When Leaves Change
by Holy Brother
Summary: Action, adventure, romance, and everything that makes Naruto great... set in part II.  Naruto is betrayed by his closest friends, but not everything is as it seems... Pairing NaruHina  Reviews appreciated!
1. I Naruto's Defeat

**When Leaves Change**

_**I Naruto's Defeat**_

"Shut up!" shouted Naruto. Water droplets fell from his spiky blonde hair, and his breath briefly materialized in small grey puffs as he stood tall facing his enemy. The black and orange tunic that he wore was soaked from being in the weather. He clenched his teeth together in anger. The low light seemed to make the metal on his forehead protector glisten.

"I will never lose to someone like you!" he shouted. His determined voice echoed through the woods, only to be swallowed by the persistent dripping of raindrops into small puddles and onto the large leaves of the trees that surrounded them. Though there was no wind, grey clouds could be seen moving across the sky, and they blocked most of the sun's warmth.

"I will protect Konoha!" shouted Naruto defiantly as he reached into his wet utility pouch and retrieved a long, sharp kunai. As he held it up preparing to fight his enemy, small droplets of water gathered on its dark metal surface and eventually dropped off its sharp end. Though he watched his opponent carefully, every passing moment found him more and more anxious to strike. His bright blue eyes hardly blinked, and the stripes on his face seemed to grow larger and darker as he stared down his opponent.

"I will _never_ forgive you…" he said in a lower and more deliberate tone. His opponent laughed as she looked at the anger of the leaf shinobi. She stood in a taunting pose as the rain continued to fall from the skies. Her boot-clad foot landed in a small puddle as she stepped slowly toward Naruto. The water rippled around it as if it were trying to flee from the presence of a terrible enemy. The ambient light seemed to shine on her forehead protector, illuminating the scratched out symbol for the hidden village of Konoha. She pulled her black gloves tighter around her hands and pulled a stray lock of pink hair behind her ear.

"Sakura-chan!" shouted Naruto. As he uttered the familiar name of his opponent, she smiled.

"Naruto…" said Sakura softly. "You are so naïve!" Her voice was soft and smooth, but Naruto found no comfort in her tone. Rather he stepped cautiously, realizing that any direct hit he took from his powerful enemy could be lethal. Her chakra training under the fifth Hokage had augmented her natural talent tremendously, and he had seen her demolish buildings with a single punch. More than this however, Naruto had a visual reminder of the danger right before him. Her black robe was drenched, but it was not only from the rain. It was covered in the blood of Leaf shinobi that she had slaughtered. Terrifying splotches surrounded the familiar red cloud design that appeared on her Akatsuki attire.

"There is nothing naïve about being loyal!" shouted Naruto. "I will stop you!"

"With what?" taunted Sakura.

"_Kage bunshin no jutsu_!" shouted Naruto as a dozen shadow clones materialized before him. His clones dashed toward Sakura with tremendous speed pointing their weapons toward her. In less than a second they had closed the distance between themselves and Sakura and began wildly slashing and lunging. She effortlessly dodged their attacks and countered with hits of her own. The shadow clones made a distinct air puffing noise as they vanished away revealing that Sakura had successfully avoided all of Naruto's attacks.

"You cannot stop me…" said Sakura coolly as she continued to approach the blonde ninja.

"_Taju kage bunshin no jutsu_!" shouted Naruto as hundreds of clones appeared all around Sakura.

"The number will not change the result…" said Sakura as they began pouring down on her like the rain from the clouds above. The faster they attacked, the quicker Sakura seemed to dance around as she seamlessly dispelled shadow clone after shadow clone in a flurry of motion.

"_Rasengan_!" shouted Naruto as he dove into the pile hoping to strike her while she was preoccupied. The constant puffing sound of his clones being vaporized grew louder as he fell toward the center of the action. Sakura was punching and kicking so powerfully that she was destroying dozens of clones with each of her attacks. Naruto tried to suppress the growing terror in his heart as he neared his opponent. At last he saw an opening and leapt with tremendous speed toward Sakura. His powerful attack connected with her and threw her and dozens of clones backward. She skidded across the muddy ground until colliding into the thick trunk of a tree and slouching over completely unconscious. Suddenly, she puffed away revealing a log in her own place.

"A replacement technique?" whispered Naruto in confusion. Suddenly he felt a tremendous pain in his back and felt himself flying through the air. Sakura rushed underneath him as he flew in between tree trunks. Using her speed, she moved to Naruto's projected landing place and punched the ground causing a large amount of hard earth and rocks to fly up and collide with the flying Leaf ninja.

"I defeated the Fifth Hokage!" said Sakura. "The strongest of Konoha… and you thought you could defeat me with these cheap tricks?!?" She pulled Naruto up by his black collar and held him above her triumphantly.

"Why have you done this Sakura?" whispered Naruto as he struggled to maintain consciousness. "Why would you be a part of Akatsuki?" His question seemed to catch Sakura off guard. She paused as she saw a small amount of blood trickle out of Naruto's mouth and drip onto her dark robe.

"To see what I was capable of…" she said slowly. "Good bye… Naruto-kun…" She tossed him into the air and threw a tremendous punch that landed squarely in the center of his chest and sent him flying into the air out of Sakura's vision. She smiled and wiped her hands off as the rain continued falling all around her.


	2. II Hinata Discovers the Traitor

_**II Hinata Discovers the Traitor**_

"I am going after him!" said Hinata resolutely. Her white eyes seemed to glisten in the low light as she spoke. Her voice was usually coupled with hesitation, and her stance typically reflected self-doubt, but there was not even a hint of these qualities as she stood before her friends. Her dark hair was still wet from the rain that had fallen and from her previous battle. Her fists were clenched with determination.

"Hinata…" said Shino. "It is not as if he is simply lost…" Shino's voice was calm and low. The thick hood that covered his head was drenched, but it did not seem to bother the bug user.

"Akatsuki captured him," he continued. Hinata furrowed her brow in anger.

"All the more reason to go after him," she said. Had his face been visible, Hinata would have seen a frown upon it. Shino knew that the Hyuuga shinobi was not being objective. He had never been a fan of Naruto's emotional outbursts. Though he had come to expect similar behavior from Kiba, he had always considered himself fortunate that at least Hinata, his other teammate, would not try to impose her personal views on everyone else. Her eyes looked at him as if accusing him. 'How can you abandon a comrade?' Hinata's gaze seemed to demand. Her clenched fists reminded him that it would be ineffective to try and reason with her. In spite of her menacing demeanor Shino spoke again.

"You are only going because it's _him_," said Shino softly. Her expression slowly softened, and her fists gradually relaxed as she looked at her cloaked companion. Her head lowered slightly as she thought about her motivations. It was true that she had feelings for Naruto, but as hard as she tried, she had not been able to hide that fact from anyone except her favorite blonde ninja. She wondered if it was Shino that had been captured instead of Naruto whether she would be as anxious to fight Akatsuki. She pulled a stray lock of her jet black hair behind her ear and looked at the ground. She felt slightly ashamed that she had been so bold. She did not want to put others in danger, and she was not anxious to fight the most terrible, powerful ninja organization the world had seen in years.

"Let's return to Konoha and speak with Hokage-sama," suggested the bug user. Shino was pleased to see that she had calmed down. The sound of water dripping off the leaves on trees into nearby puddles surrounded the pair of Konoha ninjas, and seemed to soothe their lingering anxiety. Hinata raised her head again and spoke in a calm and deliberate voice.

"I will not linger here or in Konoha," she said slowly. Shino was surprised at the serenity of her defiance. She raised her head, and though his sunglasses covered his eyes, it was as if she could see right through the dark lenses as she spoke.

"I will not give up," she said. Her eyes seemed to light up even brighter. "I will not take back my words… that is my way of the ninja!" Shino lowered his head. He could tell it would be useless to try and persuade her further.

"Very well…" he said finally. "But do not rush into traps… and take this…" He lifted his hand and a small bug flew off the tip of his index finger and landed on Hinata's shoulder.

"I intend to return to Konoha and gather at least a couple other ninja before pursuing Naruto," he said. "The female will allow me to catch up to you after I have done this." Hinata nodded and turned in the direction Naruto had been taken by the black cloaked figures. She turned back to Shino as if wanting to say something more. He turned toward Konoha and leapt into the trees. She watched him vanish behind the trunks of trees in the distance and turned again toward her target.

"_Byakugen_!" she whispered. Her sight expanded and she became aware of everything around her. She could see a small dark bird flying in the distance, and the ripples of hundreds of water droplets splashing into puddles underneath hundreds of leaves. After a few moments of searching, she found what she was looking for: a footprint on a tree branch belonging to the Akatsuki agent that grabbed Naruto. She had felt so helpless watching the dark robed figures take him from their side. One of them had punched the ground causing the earth to break up and swallow both her and Shino. By the time they managed to climb their way out from under the heaps of earth they found their other enemy had draped Naruto over the tip of his long wrapped sword unconscious. Hinata had rushed to try and attack the Akatsuki ninja, but he lifted his arm and blasted her back with a tidal wave attack that had thrown them back several hundred yards before dissipating. It took Hinata and Shino a minute to gather their breath before Hinata had boldly declared that she would be going after Naruto.

She paused at the footprint only for a moment to confirm that she was traveling in the correct direction. As she identified the next sign of her targets, she leapt with tremendous speed. Each branch bounced her gently further toward Naruto. She could not help but imagine what she wanted to do when she reached her beloved ninja. She was sure she could find a way to capture him back and escape. Then she could nurse his injuries. She imagined Naruto opening his bright blue eyes and smiling up at her. She shook her head trying to focus on what her plan would be when she found Akatsuki.

Hours passed as she relentlessly pursued her enemies. Her eyes scanned for traps, but she found only bark, leaves, and an occasional squawking raven among the limbs of the trees she raced between. The sensation of water dripping onto her smooth skin became more frequent. As she glanced upward, she could see the clouds darkening. Each moment that passed brought rain with greater intensity. At last her powerful byakugen technique brought her attention away from the storms above and focused in on two people. She focused hard to identify the two shapes. It was not difficult for her to realize that the two were locked in combat. Suddenly two became a dozen.

'Naruto-kun!' she thought to herself. It was only moments before the number had fallen again to two. Suddenly hundreds of Naruto's shadow clones filled the forests.

'Do your best Naruto-kun!' she thought as she leapt closer. As much as she could perceive, she was still quite some distance from them. Though she strained to identify the person that Naruto fought, there were too many shadow clones for her to tell. After another minute of combat, it appeared that Naruto would land his all impressive rasengan technique, but to her horror, she saw Naruto's opponent perform a replacement technique and counter attack.

"Wha…" whispered Hinata as she identified the opponent Naruto faced. She nearly fell from the shock of seeing Sakura clad in blood stained Akatsuki robes attacking her beloved Naruto. She gathered her breath and her balance on the muddy ground below the branches.

"Sakura-san…?" she whispered. Hinata gasped in horror as she perceived Sakura toss Naruto up and punch him with such intensity that he flew almost beyond Hinata's perception. She became furious and leapt faster toward Naruto. She clenched her fists as she watched Sakura wipe her hands in the falling rain.

Suddenly, Sakura vanished. Hinata tried to increase her concentration, knowing that she could not afford to let Sakura out of her perception for long.

"Hinata-san!" shouted Sakura. Hinata whirled around to see her pink-haired foe.

"How did you…" started Hinata. She immediately thought back to Shino's counsel to avoid rushing into traps. How had she missed this?

"How did I avoid the detection of your byakugen technique?" interrupted Sakura. "It is impressive… isn't it?" Sakura stepped slowly toward Hinata.

"Why are you doing this Sakura?" asked Hinata as she stepped back defensively.

"It is such a shock to see some one that you know and respect turn out to be someone like me, isn't it Hinata-san! But I have become more than I ever was before! If I had to choose again, I would not choose differently." said Sakura softly. Hinata suddenly found herself unable to move. Water from the puddles nearby had wrapped around her and bound her in place. She was again horrified that her byakugen had given her absolutely no warning. More than the impending danger of Sakura pulling her gloves tight, and more than her new ability to control water, Hinata was most afraid that she could no longer trust her own skills now that Sakura had found away to sneak by her byakugen. Her 360 degree vision should have given her warning in both cases.

"You won't get away with this!" said Hinata.

"What… will your little bug stop me?" asked Sakura in a mocking tone as she pointed to the small flying creature that hovered above Hinata's shoulder. A stream of water leapt from a nearby puddle and swallowed the bug that Shino had given to her. Fear filled Hinata's heart as she saw her tiny ally swept away by the stream of Sakura's water technique.

"No…" said a voice coming from the side. Hinata's heart skipped a beat as she struggled against her bonds to see whether her ears had deceived her.

"Naruto-kun?!?" said Sakura in a puzzled tone. He was soaked and covered in mud. His face had been scratched and lacerated by branches during his painful flight, but he had returned whole and conscious. Hinata smiled as she saw her hero standing up against their opponent. Though she felt embarrassed that she was not in a position to help, her shame could not match her relief and happiness that Naruto was not seriously hurt.

"…_I_ will stop you…" said Naruto in a low determined voice. His bright blue eyes flashed with anger, and his blonde hair dripped as the rain fell. Sakura stepped back cautiously as she saw her attack had not been able to stop her former teammate. A subtle red glow began to swirl around his body, and it seemed that even the rain was avoiding falling on him. The stripes on his face darkened, and his nails became longer.

"You have hurt enough people, Sakura …" said Naruto. "_I will not let you hurt Hinata-chan_!"


	3. III The Source of Sakura’s Power

_**III The Source of Sakura's Power **_

"The number one surprising ninja…" muttered Sakura. Naruto pointed his fist toward Sakura.

"Release Hinata!" shouted Naruto. Hinata smiled as she watched her favorite ninja contend on her behalf, but at the same time, she wanted to avoid becoming a burden to Naruto. She struggled earnestly to find a way to escape her watery prison.

"Or else what?" chided Sakura as she put her hands on her hips. "Come on surprising ninja!" Naruto clenched his teeth. More red chakra began swirling around him. Suddenly he vanished. Sakura immediately leapt back defensively. Naruto narrowly missed her as he leapt to tackle her. Sakura countered with a punch of her own, but before her fist could land, Naruto dashed around her and struck her in the back. She flew forward several yards before skidding to a stop. To Naruto's surprise, she puffed away revealing that he had only struck another replication.

"Too slow!" shouted Sakura as she spun around delivering a powerful chakra-concentrated kick. To her shock, Naruto grabbed her leg and spun her around, throwing her against a tree trunk.

"It looks like I won't be able to hold back as much now…" said Sakura. She formed a flurry of seals. Water began to flow around her that quickly materialized in to three identical water clones.

Hinata finally managed to free herself from the watery tendrils that had bound her. She focused closely on Sakura with her Byakugen technique. She carefully stepped into a defensive stance and backed away cautiously. She decided that Shino had been right when he suggested she not rush into any traps. She glanced over toward Naruto. He immediately leapt to attack Sakura.

'I suppose there are other schools of thought,' she said to herself as Naruto began wildly slashing at the water clones. He was able to destroy one of them that seemed to burst into a cloud of thick steam, but a second clone was able to slam her fist into Naruto's face. The burning red chakra that surrounded him seemed to evaporate part of Sakura's clone, and filled the air with steam. The other clone kicked Naruto down, and completely evaporated. The hot thick cloud made visibility become increasingly difficult for Naruto, and though he slashed and swung, he could not see the real Sakura summoning more and more water until he found himself surrounded and unable to breathe. He fought hard to leap out of his growing watery prison, but it was as if he was surrounded by a bubble that followed his movements such that he could not escape.

"_Jyuuken: __eight trigrams sixty-four palms_!" shouted Hinata. Sakura whirled around to find Hinata unleashing increasing series of hits against her. Sakura tried to avoid some of the hits so that her chakra control would not be cut off, but the speed and accuracy of Hinata's attacks made it impossible to avoid.

As the water prison dissipated, Naruto looked down to see Hinata's powerful attacks push Sakura further and further back. Her long dark hair flipped as she flawlessly whirled about executing her jutsu. Naruto could not help but be amazed at Hinata's success. Everything he had thrown at Sakura, she had countered, but Hinata had found opportunity to strike while Naruto had distracted her. At last Sakura fell backwards and landed on the ground. Hinata stood tall over her fallen opponent. The rain slowly stopped, but the air was still cool enough that small puffs of air could be seen each time Hinata gasped to recover her breath.

"Hinata!" shouted Naruto. "That was amazing!" She smiled before she turned to face her favorite ninja. Although her byakugen ability had not ceased, there was no warning that came when Sakura stood up and put a kunai to Hinata's throat. Naruto gasped in shock.

"Your tenketsus were closed!" shouted Naruto in confusion. Sakura laughed as she summoned a stream of water to leap from her free hand and wrap around Hinata's face. Sakura punched her in the back throwing her with tremendous force into a tree trunk a hundred yards away. Sakura's blood splotched Akatsuki robes fluttered slightly as she stood up straight again.

"You can never beat me with such pathetic techniques…" said Sakura with a laugh. "You underestimated me!" Naruto clenched his fists as he stared at Sakura. The ambient light shined brightly on her forehead protector, and seeing the emblem of his home desecrated filled him with anger.

"No we didn't!" shouted Hinata. She had somehow managed to pick herself up and rush back to Naruto's side. He spun his head to face her in confusion. How had she recovered? Why did she no longer maintain her defensive stance facing the traitor of Konoha? Sakura raised an eyebrow in confusion as she looked at the now-confident Hyuuga. Had she actually determined the source of her power?

"It's over, I can see through your technique…" said Hinata softly.

"See what?" asked Naruto. He looked back at Sakura trying to perceive what he might be missing. The bloodstained robe had become a little dirtier after Hinata had knocked Sakura back, but other than that she appeared no different to the blonde ninja.

"That isn't Sakura…" said Hinata. Naruto whirled about in confusion.

"That's the only way she could've got past my byakugen…" said Hinata. "The same way that Kurenai-sensei could…"

"Huh?" asked Naruto. "How did she do that?" Hinata continued.

"There's only one person I have ever heard of that managed to recover quickly after having their tenketsus closed," said Hinata as she looked briefly toward Naruto. "As talented as Sakura is, she has never used any water element techniques, and as strong as she is, there's no way I would be able to recover so quickly after being hit by her…"

"Yeah Hinata, how did you do that?" asked Naruto.

"It's because I wasn't actually hit, I was only given the perception of being thrown hundreds of yards," said Hinata.

"Oh!" said Naruto. Hinata could tell he was still confused.

"This has all been genjutsu…" said Hinata.

"Ohhhh!!!" said Naruto as he looked back at Sakura.

"Your perception is better than I anticipated Hinata…" Sakura said slowly. "Since I have delayed the Kyuubi long enough… there is no reason for me to continue running you in circles here in the woods…" Sakura seemed to melt away into the air leaving Naruto and Hinata alone.

"_Byakugen_!" whispered Hinata who wanted to make sure that there were not real enemies waiting to ambush them when the illusion fell. After a few moments of searching turned up nothing, she could not help but feel anxiety about being alone with Uzumaki Naruto.

"Hinata-chan," said Naruto softly. Hinata discontinued her technique so she could look at him with her natural sight. Though the rain had now stopped, several spiky locks of his blonde hair had beads of clear water dangling from them. The stripes on his face had thinned somewhat, and the chrome finish of his forehead protector reflected a beam of emerging sunlight. Her breathing slowed as she tried to take in every detail.

"I'm not very good at defending against illusion techniques like that…" admitted Naruto. His voice was soft, yet Hinata still felt a dormant strength behind every word. It was the kind of strength that helped him get up again after getting knocked down. He recognized his weaknesses and trained hard to overcome them. "I should've known that Sakura-chan would never really betray Granny Tsunade. And there's no way that a Hokage would lose in a fight like that!"

"Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata. She looked up nervously into his blue eyes. She longed to pull him close. "I… I…" she stuttered.

"I feel the same way Hinata…" said Naruto slowly. Hinata blushed deeply. She had yearned for her confident ninja to prize her. Naruto smiled and continued. "I think we should go back to Konoha to see why they were trying to distract us!" Hinata lowered her head. She had been hoping that Naruto would acknowledge her at least; but though he had not responded in the way she had anticipated at first, she knew that he had a good point. They did need to go back to Konoha. She knew better than to hope that the illusion of Sakura spoke with idle words when she mentioned stalling the Kyuubi. There was some reason for the ordeal they had gone through. She turned toward the village that both she and Naruto loved so much.

"You're right Naruto-kun…" said Hinata softly. "We should not linger here…" The two ninja started off toward Konoha.

"Oh and Hinata…" said Naruto as they started walking. Hinata turned to look at Naruto as she leapt into the branches of the trees.

"You really were amazing!" said Naruto. "If you hadn't had seen through that genjutsu, it could have been bad for me… I'm glad you came after me…" Hinata laughed softly. Inwardly, she could not find words to express the emotions that came over her. Compassion for Naruto, gratitude for being able to help him, happiness that he had actually acknowledged her in a small way, and fear of frightening him away if he knew just how much she cared for him. She decided it would be best to try and focus on something else as they travelled, but the only unusual thing they came across as they leapt through the tree branches was a strangely familiar raven that shrieked from above them.


	4. IV The Enemies of Konoha

_**IV The Enemies of Konoha **_

Aburame Shino loved shinobi rule twenty-five. This law was intended to prevent ninja from becoming emotionally involved and making mistakes. He had become the model of objectivity among ninja in the Hidden Village of Leaf, and sometimes his comrades wondered if he had completely divorced himself from his emotions. His voice was almost always low and monotone, and he employed a speaking style that Naruto had mocked on several occasions.

Perhaps his consistency came from his upbringing. The Aburame clan prided themselves in never underestimating any one… even some one as small as a bug. It was especially appropriate since they housed large colonies of insects in their body, and using their chakra, controlled the swarms to help them accomplish missions. The bugs needed relatively stable environments in which to thrive, and perhaps this need helped mold Shino into the enigmatic master of stoicism that his comrades had come to respect.

All of the training and consistency that he had ever known was undone in a single moment. Though the sun had finally burned several holes in the thick cloud cover above and the rain had ceased, Shino's face wrap was getting wetter. Tears tricked down his cheeks from underneath his dark sunglasses. He could not help but weep as he stood at the broken entrance to the Hidden Village of Konoha and saw the broken bodies of about a dozen ninja academy students. Among them was a little girl with small bugs crawling and flying around her body. He knew that these were not flies hovering over rotting flesh, but rather these insects were the same kind that lived in the bodies of his clansmen. The sounds of fire crackling among the nearby buildings filled the air. In the distance, Shino perceived the sound of weapons clanging together. His heart mixed an awful blend of wrath and anguish. He slowly tried to dry his eyes and catch his breath. He knew that he would not be useful unless he calmed down.

"Where are Naruto and Hinata?" came a voice from behind Shino. There was great urgency that laced the question. He whirled around and trying to pretend he felt nothing. He saw the face of the strongest ninja in the village.

"Hokage-sama…" said Shino, still attempting to mask the grief in his voice. Tsunade's stern expression softened slightly as she looked at Shino. She had never seen him emotional, and she could not help but feel compassion for one of her suffering shinobi. The attack had not been totally unexpected, but the number of attackers was not something they had been prepared for.

"Hokage-sama!" shouted another ninja as he ran to meet their leader. "That was the last of them…" He panted to regain his breath.

"Very good," replied Tsunade. "Let's get as many ninja as we can find help move the wounded into the hospital…"

"Yes Hokage-sama!" he replied. He immediately began running off.

"Shino…" said Tsunade softly. "Where are Hinata and Naruto?" Shino cleared his throat before responding.

"We were ambushed by Akatsuki," said Shino. "They took Naruto. Hinata decided to follow after him, and I came here to get backup. Hinata is carrying one of my bugs so I should be able to track her without much difficulty."

"Most of the jounin are quite some distance from here," said Tsunade. "We were hoping that the three of you would provide _us_ with help." She sighed in disappointment. "I will be forced to recall some of our other ninja in outlying countries to help with our defenses then, there is no other choice."

"What would you have me do?" asked Shino.

"Help with the injured before gathering a few free ninja," replied Tsunade. "Then go ahead and bring Naruto and Hinata back. This mission is not a win at all costs scenario Shino… We have lost enough lives already." Shino nodded. Though he tried to dismiss the pain in his heart, his eyes could not withhold from shedding another pair of tears.

Tsunade turned toward the hospital. She had longed to escape the heaps of paperwork that were laid before her, but this was not the method she had had in mind. Hundreds of warriors in dark robes had rushed through the entrance and overpowered the guards there. She especially felt bad about the small class of academy students that had been taking a walk by the village entrance. She wished that she might have been there. The attacking ninja were mostly chunin level ninjas, and she could have prevented most of the carnage that they inflicted. Their self-sacrificing nature bothered her deeply. It seemed a very foreign idea that they were willing to give up their lives to kill only a few leaf ninja. She kept her worries to herself as she sped toward the hospital. She would not let what might have been done differently in the past prevent her from making a difference here and now. That was the wisdom she had gleaned from Uzumaki Naruto when Jiraiya had found her three years before and offered her the position she now held.

"I will go with you," said Sakura as she hurried with Shino to an injured shinobi crying for help. Shino had managed to get control of his emotions again.

"Thank you Sakura," he said. "A medical ninja will be vital in a mission against Akatsuki." Sakura did not need that reminder. She thought back to her first mission after Naruto had returned from his training with Jiraiya. Her skills had helped both her own team and her Sand allies defeat a vicious Akatsuki opponent named Sasori.

After a brief journey they arrived at the hospital. Medical ninja were busily rushing back and forth tending to the wounded.

"I will meet you in two hours Shino," said Sakura as she rushed to help the other medical ninja. As Shino turned to leave he found Lee approaching the hospital carrying a wooden beam draped with about a dozen injured Ninja.

"Lee!" said Shino. He gently placed the beam down and flashed a smile at the bug user. "Let me help you…"

"Thanks Shino," said Lee as he began carrying a pair of injured villagers into the hospital. It was not long before they had brought them all into the building to receive medical treatment. Ino and Sakura rushed to help the injured villagers.

"I wish I had been at the gates," said Lee softly as he turned to Shino. "There were many opponents, but the strength of my youth could have stopped them!" Shino had never understood Lee's love for the 'springtime of youth' pontification that Maito Gai loved to recite. In fact, no one else understood the philosophy of these taijutsu masters, but even though they seemed obnoxiously over-enthusiastic, no one could deny their great strength and determination. They were by no means the greatest strategists in Konoha, but they were the most tenacious hard workers in any hidden village.

"Lee," said Shino. "The Fifth has asked me to assemble a few ninja and go after Naruto and Hinata. I would like you to come with us..." Lee did not seem to notice the hint of emotion in Shino's voice, or the small tear that had just appeared underneath his sunglasses. Shino also longed to have been at the gates, but he knew there was nothing that could be done now.

"Naruto-kun?" asked Lee. "Of course I will come with you!"

"This mission is not without danger..." said Shino. "Naruto was captured by powerful Akatsuki agents. Hinata is keeping on their trail, but even with our combined strength..."

"There's no way they can keep up with us in the springtime of our youth!!" shouted Lee energetically. Shino fought the impulse to sigh.

"We will be meeting in a couple hours at the gates," said Shino. "I want to see about recruiting another ninja to join us..." Lee nodded and rushed off.

Shino turned and headed further into the village. Even behind the cloud cover, the sun was growing closer to the horizon. He wondered how Hinata and Naruto were faring. A mental picture came into his head of Naruto getting knocked unconscious from fighting ninja far stronger than he was, and Hinata falling unconscious because she was near Naruto. His worries caused him to walk a bit quicker to his destination.

"Shino!" came a voice from nearby. It was Tenten. She was helping to remove a pile of enemy corpses from the road ahead. Sino could not help but notice the large number of axes, kunai, and shuriken that were still deeply embedded in these ninjas' bodies.

"Tenten..." said Shino softly. "I would like your help with a mission..."

Sakura and Lee were waiting by the gate when Tenten and Shino appeared. The sky had darkened considerably, though most of the clouds had been swept away by a strong breeze that had kicked up from the south. The brightest of stars began to reveal their shine as the light of the sun waned away in the west. As the group gathered together and checked their equipment, a strange sight appeared on the horizon.

"What is it?" asked Lee. The low light made it difficult to see precisely what approached Konoha. It almost looked like a leafless, branchless walking tree at first, but after a little more time had passed, they realized that it was a man carrying a large wrapped item over his shoulder. Tenten shuddered as she suddenly remembered the silhouette.

"Hoshigaki Kisame..." she whispered. The others turned to face her. "He's a powerful ninja from Akatsuki..."

"You've fought him before?" asked Lee. Tenten shot Lee a look of confusion.

"You were there Lee!" she said.

"Was I?" he asked confused.

"You're just like Gai-sensei..." muttered Tenten.

"Look!" said Sakura pointing again to the horizon. Behind the swordsman they saw a large group of other ninja marching toward them. "It's another attack!"

"I will inform Hokage-sama!" shouted Tenten as she rushed back to the village. "Hold them off until we return!" Shino nodded. He was glad that Tenten had volunteered for that job. He knew it had to be done, but he did not want to have to do it. He wanted to stay here at the gates; he wanted to be the first to meet the enemies of Konoha. Sakura tightened her gloves. Lee leapt up and down to stay limber. Shino lifted his arms, and his constant allies began pouring out his sleeves and flying around him. This time, the shinobi of Konoha would be prepared protect their beloved home.

**A/N:** I wish to thank every one who has provided reviews thusfar. I thought I would be able to squeeze a little more action into this chapter, and I apologize to those that were hoping for this, but I thought it was important to set up the plot direction here. As always, your reviews and input are valued both for suggestions and for motivation to keep typing when my eyesight blurs. Thank you.


	5. V When Leaves Change

_**V When Leaves Change**_

Naruto and Hinata increased their speed as the sun set in the west. The small amount of warmth that the sun had brought after appearing from behind the clouds was now being diminished by its descent on the horizon.

Hinata was thinking about two things. Her bloodline limit and training made this a simple task, as she naturally augmented her eyesight with her byakugen technique to help her detect any danger lay in front of them on their way back to the Hidden Village of Konoha. As important as it was for them to avoid additional traps, Hinata could not help but let some of her focus fall on Naruto. His spiky blonde hair bounced as he aggressively launched himself off of each branch, and the fading light reflected a soft orange color off of his eyes and forehead protector.

Naruto was thinking about two things. This was a rare thing for him, as his attention was typically only broad enough to think about a single thing at a time. The first thing on his mind was the security of Konoha. He wondered why Akatsuki would try and delay him when they had so openly made their intentions to capture all of the jinchūriki. He possessed the chakra of the nine-tailed fox, and it made more sense to him that they would delay his friends and capture him rather than the other way around. He was unable to come up with any ideas to explain Akatsuki's motives because his mind was simultaneously thinking of one other thing. He was hungry. Every leap he took brought him one step closer to a bowl of delicious ramen. His mouth watered as he imagined the tender meat and flavorful noodles.

"We don't have much longer Naruto-kun…" said Hinata softly. Naruto grinned as he turned to Hinata.

"I can hardly stand the wait to get to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar!" shouted Naruto enthusiastically. "I'm starving!" Hinata felt butterflies in her stomach almost immediately as a bold idea came to her. She squirmed slightly, but she decided to roll the dice.

"N…Naruto-kun…" stammered Hinata. She cleared her throat hoping to mask the self-doubt that laced itself in her voice.

"Huh?" asked Naruto.

"W…Wou…Would it be alright if I went with you?" she said at last. "I can pay…" she quickly added. Naruto smiled.

"You don't have to Hinata!" replied Naruto cheerfully. Hinata was confused. Did he mean she did not have to pay or that she did not have to come with her? She paused hoping for an explanation. Naruto said nothing as they continued leaping toward Konoha. Hinata's cheeks filled with color as she asserted herself.

"I insist!" said Hinata with false confidence. Naruto smiled.

"Ok then Hinata," he said softly. At this point Hinata did not care if she had to pay for both meals; she was going to dinner with Uzumaki Naruto. Though she wanted to continue the conversation, she had no idea what to say. She decided to lower her head and avoid eye contact with Naruto in the hopes that she would avoid doing anything to change his mind.

It was not long before the two reached the gates of Konoha. There were torches lit to provide light as the sky grew darker. Hinata peered around cautiously, but to her surprise, nothing seemed unusual at all here.

"I wonder what they were trying to distract me from…" said Naruto as he and Hinata walked into the Hidden Village. Everything seemed normal to them as they saw villagers walking to businesses to purchase goods. The storms that afternoon had prevented them from doing so earlier.

"We should probably find Shino first," said Naruto. Their masked comrade emerged almost immediately from a nearby road.

"Naruto, Hinata!" he said. "I see you made it back!"

"Shino!" said Naruto excitedly. "What happened?"

"As soon as I got back I spoke to Hokage-sama," replied Shino. "She said that we didn't have to worry about a ninja as strong as Naruto…" There was an uncharacteristic cheerfulness in his voice. Hinata raised an eyebrow and looked at Shino cautiously.

"Yeah!" laughed Naruto. "I guess I am pretty strong! Well anyway… see you later Shino, we're going to eat!" Hinata found herself immediately distracted from her suspicions as she thought about going to dinner with Naruto. She was also hungry, and she blushed slightly as she looked up at Naruto. He smiled at her as they turned and began toward Naruto's favorite ramen shop. Hinata looked back briefly at Shino, but to her surprise, she saw only a strangely familiar squawking raven where Shino had stood.

"Come on Hinata!" said Naruto. She whirled around and quickly caught up to Naruto. She decided that whatever might be strange about Shino could wait until after dinner.

After a short walk they arrived. There behind the counter stood Teuchi in his tall white hat. He wore a smile on his face and took their orders as they sat at the stools in front of his shop. The fresh smell of seasoned pork and steaming noodles filled the air. Hinata looked at Naruto as he fiddled with his chopsticks impatiently. She had hoped that he would initiate conversation, but it appeared that he would not be able to do anything else until his appetite was satisfied. She pressed her index fingers together nervously as she tried to think of what to say. After several minutes of silence, Naruto finally turned to her and spoke.

"I really love this place Hinata-chan..." he said with a grin. "No one makes ramen like Teuchi..." Hinata tried to think of something to say, but all she managed was a nervous laugh. She continued pressing her fingers together as she looked at Naruto. After a few moments of awkward silence, Teuchi finally served them large bowls of his specialty.

"Itadakimasu!" shouted Naruto happily as he thrust his chopsticks between the soft noodles and pulled them into his mouth. He was not exactly the pinnacle of table manners, and Hinata could not help but smile as he noisily slurped his ramen. She slowly pulled some of the noodles into her mouth. She was surprised by their rich flavor. This was not the first time she had eaten here, but this tasted better than anything she had ever had. She could not help but make a little noise as she slurped the thick noodles herself. She turned again and looked at Naruto. He was already drinking the last of the broth from his bowl. He let out a soft sigh as he set his bowl down. Hinata squirmed slightly as Naruto peered over at her.

"H..Hinata-chan??" said Naruto in a low voice. Hinata turned to him nervously. Would he say something romantic? "I don't want to make you pay too much… but would it be alright if I had another bowl…?" Although asking her to buy him another bowl of ramen was the opposite of romantic, she smiled and nodded. She had enough money to spare, and if it prolonged the time she spent with Naruto, she was glad to spend it.

"Thanks Hinata-chan!" said Naruto. "You're the best!" He then got Teuchi's attention and placed another order. Hinata smiled as she continued eating.

"So Hinata?" asked Naruto as Teuchi began working to fill his order. "Why did you want to eat with me tonight?" Hinata turned bright red and choked a bit on the noodles in her mouth. Naruto continued.

"I mean, don't you usually eat with your family?" he asked. Hinata nodded as she regained her breath.

"Don't get me wrong," said Naruto before she could say anything. "I am grateful to you, and I like being with you; I am just curious." Hinata's eyes grew wide as she wondered exactly what he meant when he said he liked being with her. After a few moments, she realized she better say something.

"I like being with you Naruto-kun," she said boldly. Her face turned a deeper shade of red and she immediately looked down at her bowl.

"Are you feeling ok Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto. "Maybe you have a fever…" Hinata shook her head as she took a drink and turned to face Naruto.

"I feel fine, it's just that I…" she suddenly stopped as she realized she had no idea how she intended to finish her sentence.

"Just that what…?" asked Naruto curiously. Hinata took a deep breath.

"I… you…" started Hinata. Tuechi came to her rescue by presenting Naruto with a fresh bowl of ramen. He seemed not to be worried about Hinata's response any longer as he again shoveled food into his mouth.

"It's because I worry about what you think of me," said Hinata after a few moments. Her face was still filled with color, and her eyes seemed to radiate self-doubt.

"Why would you worry about that Hinata?" asked Naruto in between bites. Hinata was frustrated. He did not seem to be able to understand what she was saying. He continued after chewing and swallowing another mouthful of pork.

"You are a great ninja…" said Naruto as he began scooping up several noodles. Hinata could tell that there was nothing romantic in Naruto's compliment, but it still gave her courage. Hinata thought back to their first chunin exam. Neji had openly taunted her, and not even her own teammates had expressed confidence in her. Naruto was the only one who had encouraged her. She smiled as she looked at her favorite blonde ninja. She suddenly felt a tremendous inner strength well up inside her. Her anxiety diminished as she opened her mouth.

"I want to tell you something Naruto…" she said slowly.

"Eh?" said Naruto as he swallowed another bite of his meal. His large blue eyes shined in the ambient light. Hinata resisted the impulse to say 'never mind.'

"I really… like you Naruto…" Naruto wore a blank expression on his face. Hinata continued.

"I don't just mean as a comrade or a friend…" she said slowly. Naruto's raised his eyebrows as he tried to make sure he was hearing Hinata correctly. She pulled a stray lock of dark hair behind her ear and cleared her throat.

"I mean I really… _like_… you…" she said slowly. Her hands started trembling and the momentary strength she had found seemed to retreat. She instinctively began pressing her index fingers together again and looking down. Naruto had never paid attention to Hinata like he did as she opened her heart to him. Her smooth skin seemed to have a soft glow in the ambient light. Her eyes seemed to shine as they reflected the orange fire in the back of Teuchi's restaurant.

"Hinata…" said Naruto softly. She raised her eyes to meet his. "…is that why you pass out around me so much?" Hinata turned red and small beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. At last she nodded. Naruto thought back to remember all the times that she had acted strange, and that he had not really noticed. He felt slightly foolish for being so oblivious, but at the same time he could not help but smile as he watched Hinata. He wondered how Naruto reached and put his hands over hers. She froze as she felt his warm skin on hers. Slowly he pulled her hands close to his neck, and then wrapped his arms around her. Tears welled up in Hinata's eyes as she pulled Naruto close. It was almost too good to be true.

"Naruto-kun…" she said softly. "Do you really like me?" She pulled herself back and looked into his deep blue eyes. Naruto smiled as he ran his fingers through her long hair.

"Hinata-chan…" he said softly. "I thought you were kind of weird with all your passing out and fevers… but now… you are definitely the kind of girl I could like…" Hinata saw the familiar blunt honesty behind Naruto's blue eyes did not waiver as he spoke.

"And Hinata…" he said softly. "I won't make you pay for my ramen…" She could not help but laugh. A tear of joy rolled down her cheek as she wrapped her arms around Naruto.

"You wouldn't have had to pay anyway," said Teuchi with a smile. "You have done me a great service…" Hinata and Naruto turned to face the old ramen shop genius. They were a little embarrassed that he had listened in on their conversation.

"What service is that?" asked Hinata softly.

"You have given Naruto love," he said. Hinata raised an eyebrow in confusion. "He has never been in a situation like this… it's better than anything I could have put before him… You see, a leaf ninja is much like a leaf on a tree…" Naruto and Hinata looked at one another cautiously and then back at Teuchi.

"A leaf needs stable temperatures, a steady supply of water, and exposure to sunlight every day…" said Teuchi. "Do you know what happens… _when leaves change_?" Hinata and Naruto gave him a look of confusion. A black raven flew in and landed next to Teuchi.

"_They fall_…" he whispered. Suddenly his elderly eyes opened wide to reveal the Uchiha clan's bloodline limit… the sharingan. Dozens of ravens flew into the ramen shop from all directions and swarmed around Naruto and Hinata.

"_Byakugen!_" shouted Hinata. Everything around them began to melt away as the powerful genjutsu technique dispelled. Naruto and Hinata fell to the ground as the earth spun around them. As they finally regained their balance and turned to see that it was not the ramen shop genius that stood before them, it was Uchiha Itachi. His dark robes fluttered in the cold air of the cave they found themselves in. As they looked behind them, they saw a strange statue with strange depictions of eyes and hands.

"This is the sealing statue…" said Itachi. "Not the most romantic retreat to express young love, but since it will be the last place you will ever see, try and make the best of it!"


	6. VI Will of Fire

_**VI Will of Fire**_

A massive wave of water crashed in between tree trunks as it surged toward the Hidden Village of Konoha. It was fast and powerful enough to pull small shrubs out of the ground, and instantly swallowed any creatures not swift enough in their climbs to escape it. This technique belonged to Hoshigaki Kisame, and it was meant to ease the path of the hundred Akatsuki underlings that marched behind waiting to prove their worth to the organization by slaughtering as many people as they could. As the large wave drew close to Konoha, something happened that Kisame did not expect. A huge amount of earth seemed to launch itself spontaneously from in front of Konoha's entrance and stop the wave from passing into the village.

"Excellent work Sakura-san!" shouted Lee enthusiastically as he examined the wall that had risen from punching the earth. He nimbly leapt up to the top to spy his enemy. Kisame approached quickly on the water's surface. Lee got in his battle stance to greet his opponent.

"You!?!?" shouted Kisame as he approached Lee.

"You recognize me?" shouted Lee as his enemy drew near.

"You don't recognize me!!?!??!" shouted Kisame furiously.

"There's something familiar about you..." said Lee as he watched the Akatsuki agent.

"I don't have time for this!" shouted Kisame as he leapt and swung his blade Samehada toward the Taijutsu master. Lee effortlessly dodged the attack and spun around countering. Kisame managed to summon a wall of water to throw Lee back. Kisame laughed.

"Do you even _have_ any ninjutsu techniques?" asked Kisame. Lee leapt toward him with amazing speed. Kisame launched a blast of water from his hand at Lee, but he effortlessly dodged it. Kisame launched more and more blasts, but to his surprise, he could not lead his target enough to connect. Lee began running faster and faster in tight circles around Kisame.

"_Konoha Senpuu_!" shouted Lee as he hurled is arms and legs around toward Kisame. He leapt to avoid the attack, but he was not swift enough to dodge. He attempted to swing Samehada up to block, but Lee managed to land a kick to his face and knock him back.

"I underestimated your taijutsu," said Kisame. "It won't happen again..." Lee stood tall in a defensive posture watching for his enemy's next maneuver.

"Soldiers!" shouted Kisame as he turned to the hundred men that had been following him. To his surprise, he heard a series of horrifying screams. Many of the soldiers were writhing in pain on the ground. Others were fighting toward a ninja in a large dark coat.

"What is this jutsu?" Kisame wondered aloud as the last of his men fell down dead. Blood rushed from numerous holes in their bodies, and slowly, bugs began to crawl out from under the torn flesh. The number of insects crawling out of their bodies increased until they were forced to fly in a swarm. The swarm of bugs seemed to be coming toward him next. Kisame launched a powerful jet of water at the approaching swarm, but it was too narrow to be effective against such small opponents spread out as they were.

"I see I am outnumbered," said Kisame as he narrowly avoided another spinning kick that Lee attempted to deliver. He caused himself to withdraw down into the depths of the pool that he had created with his initial wave. He began spinning his sword around causing the water all around to move. At first the motion was slow, but after some time, he had created a small whirlpool. Lee leapt back to the protection of the earthen wall that Sakura had thrown up.

"I think it's time to drain the pool," said Sakura as she leapt down to the bottom of his whirlpool. It took all of her strength to avoid being drawn into the center, but she managed to reach the bottom and punch the ground again. It was powerful enough to cause the earth to open slightly and begin draining the water that he had summoned.

Lee leapt toward Kisame again hoping to catch him. The great sword the Akatsuki agent swung seemed to deflect all of Lee's attacks, and then finally knocked him back into the earth wall where Sakura stopped him from painfully smashing into it. She decided it was time she hit more than the ground, and leapt cautiously toward the sword wielding attacker.

"I will show you the strength of Konoha," said Sakura as she leapt toward her foe. Kisame slashed with his sword repeatedly, hoping to tear through the pink-haired ninja.

"Your strength is nothing Leaf shinobi!" retorted Kisame. Sakura nimbly slid under and around the Akatsuki attacks. She gathered her chakra into a punch and jabbed at Kisame. He slid his great sword up and absorbed the chakra in her attack, then swung himself around throwing her back, and tearing her flesh in several places.

"Sakura-san!" shouted Lee as he rushed to help her up.

"His sword makes it difficult to use my power attacks…" said Sakura as she wiped blood off her face and stood up. Lee clenched his fists and rushed again to circle his opponent.

"You _are_ fast…" said Kisame softly as he pulled his sword up defensively.

"Your water techniques are impressive," said Lee as he dashed back and forth searching for an opening. "But you are not nearly fast enough…" Lee leapt acrobatically toward Kisame and then disappeared from his opponent's view.

"Wha..?" started Kisame as he felt a powerful hit in his back.

"Behold the power of youth!!!" shouted Lee as he began throwing punches and kicks in faster succession. Kisame was propelled through the air as Lee spun faster around. Unable to do anything but watch, the Akatsuki warrior saw Lee wrap his hand over the top of Kisame's head and pull it down into his rising knee. To his surprise, Kisame's face exploded in a splash of water.

"A water clone!?!" shouted Lee as he landed again on the water's surface. Every one searched for where Kisame might have escaped.

"The water level has dropped…" said Shino from underneath his face wrap. He had just finished ensuring that the other enemies would pose no further threat. "He escaped through the drain." Every one whirled around to have Shino's suspicions confirmed. The actual Akatsuki warrior was shredding everything in his path.

"He must not destroy the village!" shouted Lee as he began to untie the weights on his hands and feet. Sakura leapt down the earth barrier she had created and carefully began approaching Kisame. Shino stretched his arms out summoning his tiny allies to swarm down toward their foe. Before any of them could get there, about a hundred kunai, axes, and shuriken began raining down from the night sky on Kisame. He managed to summon a geyser of water in order to deflect these weapons.

"Tenten-san!" shouted Lee as he leapt to the ground. She smiled as she landed wielding a large sword of her own. Kisame's large sharp teeth shined in the ambient evening light as he looked at his prey. He swung his massive sword at her. She parried the blow away with her own weapon and tried to spin around and kick him, but he unleashed a high pressured blast of water from his free hand and threw her back.

Lee leapt hoping that his moment had come but Kisame swung his sword at the last moment and caught him, tearing his flesh and throwing him back. Suddenly Kisame felt the ground shake violently. As he looked up he saw Sakura pulling her fist up from the ground and rushing toward him. Before he could ready his weapon, he found dozens of small bugs leaping on him.

"Not enough!" shouted Kisame as he raised his arms and summoned a large wave to wash the bugs free of his shark-like flesh and push Sakura back. Lee managed to fly in from nowhere and kick Kisame in the back of his head. He turned to defend against another combo of attacks from the taijutsu user, but instead found himself attacked by Tenten. He only narrowly avoided being sliced into by a vicious swing. He managed to push a large amount of water behind himself to stop his flight, but not before Lee did begin a combination of punches. Kisame pulled his great sword up defensively, managing to slow Lee's advance for long enough to launch another wall of water to free himself from this assault. A massive amount of earth flew up from beneath the Akatsuki warrior and threw him up. Sakura leapt in a follow up attack swinging her fist, but was not able to connect with anything but his vicious chakra-absorbing sword.

"As entertaining as this has been," said Kisame with a smile. "I did not just come to the Hidden Village of Leaf break a few pathetic shinobi; I came to break your 'will of fire.'" He spun around and created several water clones of himself.

"Enough!" shouted one of Kisame's clones as it executed a water prison jutsu around Lee.

"You're through!" shouted another as it imprisoned Sakura. Tenten began fighting vehemently against a third clone, but a fourth trapped her. Shino sprinted out to try and free Tenten, but the other clone surrounded him with a watery prison before he could reach her.

"Release them!" came a voice from behind Kisame. As he turned around he smiled as he saw his new opponent. The evening breeze caught up her blond pony tails, and pressed her green vest tight against her large feminine curves. Her fists were clenched and her eyes shined with fury in the starlight.

"Hokage-sama!" said Kisame with anticipation. "When I have killed you, your troublesome village will be finished!" Tsunade thrust her fist into the ground causing a huge pit to appear that sucked all of Kisame's lingering wave into the earth.

"You think you can kill me?" chided Tsunade. She leapt into the air and punched at Kisame. He blocked with Samehada, absorbing the focused chakra of Tsunade's attack and tearing the flesh of her knuckles.

"I have the upper hand," said Kisame as he spun around and hurled Tsunade backward. She flew back a hundred yards and finally crashed into a building. Quickly getting to her feet she ran again at the Akatsuki warrior. She realized that she could not afford to loose too much chakra to his sword.

"An impressive weapon," said Tsunade as she threw another punch toward Kisame. He brought his sword up defensively, but the Hokage's punch never landed. She immediately spun around and kicked her opponent in the side of the head. He managed to deflect most of the strength of Tsunade's attack, but still flew a good distance backward.

"And you have impressive strength," said Kisame as he returned to his feet. He knew that he could not afford to take a direct hit. He stood up and launched another water jutsu at the Hokage. She easily avoided it and began rushing toward him again. The tow began trading a flurry of attacks. As Tsunade dodged and jabbed, Kisame blocked and swung Samehada. Tsunade's eye caught her young ninjas trapped in water bubbles. She knew she could not open herself to attack, but had to hurry her offensive against him. She spun around in an amazing display of taijutsu driving Kisame back as he dodged and blocked. Kisame's eyes were locked on Tsunade throwing a flurry of kicks and punches. After a minute more, Tsunade leapt back.

"Low on chakra?" asked Kisame smugly. He raised Samehada over his head. A dark energy seemed to cover his great sword as he approached Tsunade. She was breathing heavily, exhausted from her attack. She looked over at Sakura. There was a look of worry in her student's eyes. She flashed a smile at her briefly before looking up at Kisame.

"Die!" shouted Kisame as he swung his great sword down. Tsunade grabbed the blade with her bare hand and stopped it, then tore it out of Kisame's hand.

"What!?!?" shouted the Akatsuki warrior as he stumbled backwards. He looked at his sword and suddenly realized what had happened. It was not dark energy that had surrounded his blade in the night, it was a cloud of insects that had coated its surface and feasted on the chakra within the weapon. It was the bugs that had served as a protective layer between Tsunade and Kisame's attack.

"I am not defeated!" shouted Kisame as he raised his hand to launch a water attack. Tremendous pressure in his arms suddenly caused his skin to burst. Kisame cried out in pain as he saw insects packed on his fingers stopping the flow of water. He looked at his clones where Shino appeared still trapped. He seemed to evaporate into a swarm of bugs that were small enough to escape the prison and attack the clones. Lee managed to break free and smash another pair of clones freeing Sakura and Tenten.

"Don't you get it?" said Tsunade. "_I _am not the will of fire…" Kisame looked at the young Leaf shinobi approaching him slowly.

"It is the love for one another, the important people in our lives," said Tsunade. "It is the strength of those that have gone before us," as she pointed at the majestic sculptures of the five Hokages carved into the mountain side. "It is the hope in those who will follow after us," she said as she looked at Sakura, Lee, Tenten, and Shino.

"No matter what happens to any of us," said Sakura. "You cannot defeat the will of fire!" She walked up to Kisame and punched him hard in the gut. The Akatsuki warrior flew back and smashed into a tree trunk. Coughing blood, he slowly pulled himself up. As he lifted his weak head, the last thing he saw was Tsunade punching him in the face. He flew high into the air and out of sight beyond the city walls.

"I'll send some one else to find him later," said Tsunade. "Go find Naruto and Hinata. They are important people that must be protected…" Lee, Tenten, Sakura, and Shino began making their way east to find their comrade.


	7. VII Hinata's Strength

_**VII Hinata's Strength**_

"Whoa!" said Naruto. "That was weird!" Hinata whirled around to face him. He seemed to be relaxed in spite of being confronted by Itachi.

"Hey, Hinata-chan..." he said with a smile.

"Naruto-kun... what are you..." started Hinata.

"You haven't eaten very much of your ramen!" interrupted Naruto. Hinata looked back at Itachi. His cold emotionless expression was still augmented by the blood red color of his sharingan-enhanced eyes.

"Naruto!!" shouted Hinata. He did not respond. Instead, it appeared that he was pretending to eat his own bowl of ramen.

"It's no use..." said Itachi slowly. "He is inescapably locked in my genjutsu."

"Why did you release me then?" asked Hinata as she continued shifting her gaze between the ninja she loved and the ninja who had captured him.

"Because your bonds of affection have already made you weak without my genjutsu," replied Itachi. "Naruto on the other hand is quite unpredictable, mostly on account of the demon within him."

"Naruto is not strong only because of the Kyuubi!" shouted Hinata in a sudden surge of defensiveness. "And my love for him has not made me weak! Don't underestimate me!"

"_Byakugen_!" shouted Hinata.

"What do you intend to see with those eyes?" chided Itachi. Hinata pulled her arms up defensively, preparing to use her 'gentle fist' style.

"Do you hope to close my tenketsus?" asked Itachi arrogantly. "How will you find them?" Hinata focused in on her enemy. To her horror, the number of Itachi's tenketsus appeared to double, and then it appeared to her as if they were tiny creatures swimming through his body with a will of their own.

"My eye technique will trump yours every time!" said Itachi. Hinata furrowed her brow and rushed toward the Akatsuki illusionist. She tried to deliver a series of hits, but before she realized what was going on, Itachi was behind her.

"I am too fast for that to work…" said Itachi as he kicked Hinata and sent her skidding across the ground. She rolled over and leapt to her feet. Naruto seemed to be less lively than he had previously been. The distraction portion of the illusion seemed to have been completed, and it appeared that Itachi now desired to completely disable her favorite ninja. Undoubtedly this was to get the Kyuubi from within him. Hinata knew that she must find some way to prevail before they extracted the demon fox in order to save Naruto's life. Her attention immediately shifted toward Itachi.

"You cannot prevail," said Itachi as he suddenly appeared behind Hinata again and threw her across the room.

"I _will_ find a way to defeat you," shouted Hinata in an uncharacteristically confident voice. Her beloved Naruto's life was on the line. She was willing to do whatever it took to stop Itachi.

"Stop acting tough," said Itachi as he rushed toward Hinata. Hinata vaulted herself toward him, hoping to catch him off guard. Though she managed to deflect a pair of punches, Itachi's combinations were too quick even for the power of the byakugen to detect. Itachi's foot slammed into Hinata's face, and blood oozed from her mouth as she careened across the chamber. Her vision had become fuzzy, but as struggled back to her feet she realized that there was a second figure standing above her.

"Hinata…" said Shino. "Do not push yourself… Sakura will tend to your injuries…"

"How did you?" started Hinata in a broken voice. A small bug emerged from her coat and returned to Shino.

"I thought that it had…" started Hinata.

"You have been fighting a genjutsu master…" said Shino without a hint of emotion.

"Hinata-san…" whispered Sakura as she began her healing jutsu on Hinata.

"Is this all the cavalry that Konoha sent?" asked Itachi. Immediately dozens of kunai began to fly toward him. It was Tenten. He easily avoided her attacks, but was caught off guard by a swift kick from Lee.

"I will show you speed that you cannot even see!" shouted Lee. He spun around delivering more and more punches. He had managed to catch the Uchiha butcher off guard by predicting his movements to avoid Tenten's attacks, and knew that this would not be an opportunity he would be likely to get again. The ties on his wrists loosened as he began to unleash the full strength of his taijutsu.

"_Initial Gate: Open_!" shouted Lee as his bandages wrapped around Itachi and he spun him into the ground.

"_Heal Gate: Open_!" shouted Lee as he launched Itachi back into the air.

"_Life Gate: Open_!" shouted Lee as he smashed his opponent up further into the height of the cavern.

"_Harm Gate: Open_!" shouted Lee as he surged closer to Itachi.

"_Limit Gate: Open_!" shouted Lee as he unleashed his strength into Itachi. Back and forth leapt Lee breaking Itachi's skin open in several places and causing his blood to ooze all over his dark cloak. Lee's face was bright red as the limits of his body were removed and he poured his full strength into each attack. The veins on his forehead seemed as if they would burst, but somehow, Lee pressed his attack further.

'This is bad…' thought Itachi. He was unable to follow Lee's motion. 'If I can just break free, he won't be able to do this again…'

"_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" shouted Itachi. Lee had thought he had managed to land enough hits that Itachi would not be able to perform any techniques, but he was powerless against the massive ball of flame that filled the room. He flew backward and collided with the cavern floor. Itachi landed on the ground and recovered his breath. He wiped off the blood dripped from the wounds on his face.

"There is no time to rest!" shouted Tenten as she continued her barrage of ranged weapons. Itachi flipped out of the way of her projectiles to find himself surrounded by a cloud of insects.

"There is no escape either!" said Shino confidently as he directed his allies to attack the Akatsuki warrior. Itachi continued leaping away, but he was unable to avoid all of the bugs. He slapped his neck as he tried to continue to stay away from Tenten and Shino's ranged attacks.

"It's over!" shouted Sakura as she ran and punched her opponent. Itachi flew across the room and skidded several yards across the stone floor.

"Not even close!" whispered Itachi. Sakura gasped as she whirled around to see him standing right behind her. Itachi delivered a punch of his own sending Sakura flying next to the body that Sakura had hit so far. To her horror, she realized that it was Shino that she had punched. She scrambled to her knees and tried to perform healing jutsu, but to her horror, a kunai with an exploding note attached to the end landed next to her.

"Too slow Itachi!" shouted Tenten. Sakura realized too late that Itachi had managed to use genjutsu to confuse allies with enemies. She and Shino were blasted back against the far wall. Sakura struggled to maintain consciousness. Shino was bleeding from his mouth because of Sakura's tremendous punch and had already lost consciousness. Sakura struggled to continue her healing jutsu on Shino, but realized she barely had enough concentration left to keep her eyelids partly open. She turned to Tenten who was being mercilessly beat by Itachi.

"Stop!" shouted a high voice from behind them. It was Hinata. Itachi punched Tenten in the face and sent her flying across the cavern. As she landed, Tenten slumped over; it was clear that she was unable to fight further. Itachi shook his head as he looked at Hinata. Sakura had not had much time to heal her injuries, but Hinata still stood tall in her defensive posture against Itachi.

"What did you think would happen here?" asked Itachi. "You cannot prevail against me!" The white of Hinata's byakugen-enhanced eyes shined in the shadows of the cave. There was an eerie shadow that surrounded Itachi in his blood-stained Akatsuki robe.

"I said before…" said Hinata confidently. "I _will_ find a way to defeat you… and I will never take that back… that's my way of the ninja!"

"Your threats are idle," said Itachi as he rushed toward her. She leapt into the air. In a defense against a genjutsu attack, she closed her eyes, and shut her ears up. Opening them again briefly, she saw Itachi preparing another great fireball attack. She pulled herself around as he uttered his jutsu.

"_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" Hinata managed to shield herself from the brunt of the flames by releasing a small amount of chakra from her back. The fiery attack did not do any harm to her, but did push her back a great distance. She kept her feet beneath her and landed on the ground. She spun to face her opponent and rushed toward him.

"_Bunshin no Jutsu_!" shouted Hinata as a pair of clones appeared near her.

"You make my job easy!" said Itachi as he pointed his finger at Hinata. She suddenly fell to the earth, having been kicked by one of her own clones.

"These clones have no form, they can't hurt me…" said Hinata to herself. She again used intense focus and shut her senses off, then back on. She found herself on the floor with Itachi rushing toward her. 'This is my chance!' thought Hinata as she sprung to her feet.

"_Jyuuken: Eight Trigrams Palms Great Heavenly Spin_!" shouted Hinata. It had taken her some training to accomplish the ability that Neji had reinvented on his own. She had found it difficult to emit chakra from every part of her body simultaneously, but she had been able to finally do it on a few select occasions. Bright light flowed from her body as she spun around. It tore into Itachi's flesh as the jutsu picked up the Akatsuki illusionist and threw him back.

"You are not as helpless as you appear," said Itachi slowly. "But you are not immune to the power of my genjutsu… Some one like you that has so many bonds, you will never be able to deal with change…" Itachi's shape changed as she watched him. She tried to close her senses again, but when she opened her eyes, to her horror, she found that he had taken the form of Naruto.

"You will not be able to destroy me while I am like this," said the illusion of Naruto. "You don't have the heart of a ninja."

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" shouted the sharingan-wielding Naruto. A dozen shadow clones leapt at Hinata. She cried out in discomfort as she saw the one she loved filled with anger for her. Perhaps Itachi was right. She could barely move as she was pounded by the dozens of Naruto clones.

'Do you know what happens when leaves change?' That was the question that Itachi had asked her just before she had found herself in this awful place.

'They fall,' had been his answer. She could not help but feel like a leaf struggling to maintain its bond to its branch as the autumn frost came upon it. She did not want to fall, but what could she do against such a terrible force? She did not have power to sustain herself, and especially when it appeared all around her that the one who had helped sustain her was the one that was hurting her.

"We will kill you Hinata!" shouted one of the Naruto shadow clones as it kicked her in the gut. She groaned and fell to the cavern floor as she endured hit after hit. The pain was almost unbearable, but she had been caught off guard too quickly to perform any counters.

"It's not real!" shouted a hoarse voice from a distant corner of the cavern. It was Sakura encouraging her not to give up. Sakura coughed, and blood spattered out of her dry lips, but the intense look of her teal eyes carried the message clearly to Hinata.

"_Jyuuken: Eight Trigrams Palms Great Heavenly Spin_!" shouted Hinata as she caused the shadow clones to vanish away. All that remained was the original sharingan-wielding Naruto illusion, and an exhausted Hinata in her defensive stance.

"Fight on Hinata!" whispered Sakura as she lost consciousness.

"_Byakugen_!" whispered Hinata. Her enhanced sight could see Sakura and Shino on the far side of the cavern, Hinata toward the entrance, and the illusion Naruto in front of her. She suddenly recalled the real Naruto was lying on the floor caught in an illusion on the other side of the cavern by the sealing statue.

'That's the answer!' thought Hinata as she avoided looking toward the real Naruto.

"What will you do now?" asked the illusion of Naruto. She rushed with tremendous speed over to the genuine Naruto.

"You can't escape!" shouted the illusion of Naruto as he rushed to block the exit.

"Why would I want to escape?" asked Hinata softly as she knelt down pulled Naruto up into her arms. "I have the key to victory right here!"

"Even if you managed to awaken him, I could easily trap him in another genjutsu…" said Itachi who had retaken his original form.

"You have confused my byakugen technique, so that I cannot close your tenketsus…" said Hinata. "But I can still see his…" Hinata looked down at her beloved ninja. His body shifted slightly back and forth as he breathed. She supported his head in her hand as she knelt by his side. With her free hand, she ran her fingers through his spiky blonde hair.

"You're going to attack the ninja you love!?!?" shouted Itachi in confusion.

"This is coming from the man that slaughtered almost all of his own clan?" asked Hinata angrily as she turned again to Naruto. She gently laid him down on the ground and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"Did you suppose that I can only manipulate tenketsus to stop chakra flow?" asked Hinata as she used her fingers to strike Naruto in several places. Itachi's eyes grew wide. He rushed towards Hinata.

"Genjutsu is nothing more than a well constructed lie," said Hinata as she continued her deliberate strikes. "I will show you what really happens…_when leaves change_…" Itachi grabbed her by the throat and thrust his fist into her face. His Akatsuki ring tore the flesh on Hinata's forehead as he struck her repeatedly.

"Why would some one like you think that you could defeat me?" shouted Itachi as he threw her to the ground and kicked her in the gut. She skidded across the hard cavern floor several feet.

"_I will not take back my words!_" whispered Hinata as she coughed and struggled to maintain consciousness.

"…That's my way of the ninja!" shouted Naruto as he got to his hands and feet. His eyes seemed to glow as if they were on fire. The stripes on his face grew dark. His nails grew long, and a terrible red glow surrounded Naruto as he slowly crawled toward his enemy. Itachi cautiously backed away.

"You will not harm Hinata again!" shouted Naruto as he crawled closer. A red tail bubbled up from the chakra that continued to leak from his body.

"I was afraid it might come to this," said Itachi. The red and black patterns of his sharingan-enhanced eyes began to shift.

"_Mangekyo Sharingan_!" shouted Itachi.


	8. VIII Itachi's Technique

_**VIII Itachi's Technique**_

Naruto felt slightly dizzy as the colors of the cavern began to change. He lost sight of Hinata and Itachi, and instead found himself back in the Hidden Village of Konoha. There he saw Itachi and Kisame destroying every home, and every shinobi that crossed their path.

"_For the next twenty-four hours I will show you the fate of your hidden village… you will be powerless to stop us…_" came a voice from within him. It was Itachi that spoke. He tried to turn around but whichever direction he turned, he saw scenes of butchery instead of his opponent. When he tried to rush toward the unnatural colored Akatsuki ninja, he found that no matter how fast he ran, his distance to his enemy did not change in this bizarre dimension.

"Fight me Itachi!" shouted Naruto. There was no response to his challenge other than seeing Itachi continually slaughter Leaf ninja. Tsunade rushed up to try and defend her village, but Kisame tore her arm off with his massive weapon Samehada.

"Granny Tsunade!" shouted Naruto. It was too late for her to hear; another fierce swing decapitated the Hokage. Tears began to roll down Naruto's cheeks.

"You will pay for this Itachi!" shouted Kakashi as he activated his chidori technique and rushed toward the Uchiha murderer. Faster than Itachi could move, Kakashi thrust his lightning enhanced fist through Itachi's chest.

"Too late!" said Itachi as he seemed to dissolve and reveal that Kakashi had killed a Leaf Ninja. A powerful swing of Samehada tore Kakashi's legs off and left him bleeding on the ground. Itachi used a kunai to finish the job.

"Kakashi-sensei!" shouted Naruto. "Stop it Itachi!!!" he shrieked. His blood boiled as he saw the continued slaughter of his comrades. There was no mercy from Itachi's technique; Naruto was forced to continue watching as Kisame and Itachi slaughtered every one in sight. Hours passed, but Naruto was unable to do anything as Kiba and Akamaru were dismembered. Neji was swallowed up in a terrible water technique, and though he fought vehemently to escape, he could not hold his breath indefinitely. At length, her drowned in the depths of Kisame's flood.

Naruto sobbed at his inability to stop the carnage that Itachi forced him to witness. 'Why can't I defeat this technique?' he wondered to himself. The horror was unrelenting. The off-colored Kisame and Itachi marched toward the academy where Iruka was working hard to help evacuate the remaining children.

"Run!" shouted Iruka as he realized his students were in danger. He whirled about to face his Akatsuki foes.

"I will stop you even if it costs my life!" shouted Iruka.

"You will not be able to stop us..." said Itachi. "And you will lose your life anyway…" He suddenly appeared right next to Iruka and hit him. Iruka flew backwards and skidded across the ground.

"Iruka-sensei!" shouted Naruto. He longed to go to the aid of his old instructor. Kisame kicked him into the air, and though he tried to deflect the attack, Itachi stuck him with a dozen kunai. He moaned in pain as blood began to ooze out of the several wounds in his chest. Seeing Iruka injured brought back memories of when he had taken a shuriken to protect Naruto. There was no one to protect Iruka, and in a matter of moments, all his motion and breathing ceased.

It was not long before the pair of Akatsuki marauders had caught up with the academy students. There was no hesitation as they came upon the children fleeing for their lives. As the great sword Samehada swung back and forth, it shaved the flesh from the frightened students.

"I will kill you!!!" shouted Naruto.

"_Against these eyes… you can do nothing…_" whispered Itachi's voice within Naruto's mind. Naruto tried to calm down and think about his situation.

"This is just an illusion!" said Naruto slowly. "It's not real!"

"_My technique, the Mangekyo Sharingan, it is too powerful for you to simply dismiss…_" whispered Itachi. Naruto tried to close off his senses, but he could still hear the screams of villagers, and even trying to close his eyes, he still saw the off color versions of Itachi and Kisame shedding the blood of villagers. It seemed to drag on longer and longer. Naruto wept as he saw the carnage continue. He strained to try and move, but the harder he strained, the more exhausted he became. Slowly his vision began to fade, and he heard other voices around him. At first it was too difficult to understand, but after Itachi's technique lessened, the voices seemed to clarify. Suddenly, he began to recognize the voices he was hearing.

"Release Naruto!" said Kakashi.

"You have used too much chakra against Naruto," said Yamato. "You don't have enough left to deal with us…"

"I may be disadvantaged," said Itachi. "But I am not helpless."

"_Moku Jōheki_!" shouted Yamato as a dome of wood surrounded Itachi. Lightning began dancing around Kakashi's fist. He ran quickly and dove into the wooden dome. As his chidori attack tore through the wood, he quickly twisted to avoid any chance of Itachi catching him off guard. Itachi leapt just in time to avoid Kakashi's attack.

Naruto was dizzy and nauseous as the effects of Itachi's technique wore off. He was trying to keep up with the battle, but it as if everything was still spinning.

"Kakashi-sensei…" muttered Naruto as he tried to keep from throwing up. Yamato began employing more mokuton techniques to attempt to bind Itachi while Kakashi chased after him. Fire and lightning lit the cavern as Naruto got slowly to his feet.

"Look out Yamato!" shouted Kakashi as Itachi rushed at him. Yamato leapt out of his path and cast a stream of water at Itachi. The exhausted Akatsuki agent was blasted backwards.

"You're right," muttered Itachi. "I _don't_ have enough chakra…" He rushed toward the cavern entrance. Yamato tried to create a wood dome to seal him in, but he managed to burn his way through with a quick fire jutsu.

"Let him go, Yamato," said Kakashi slowly as he came to Naruto. "We need to aid the injured here…" Yamato nodded and returned to Naruto's side.

"Are you injured?" asked Kakashi.

"I'm ok," said Naruto slowly. The horrors he had witnessed in the vision that Itachi had forced him to witness had taken a toll. His body was stiff, and Naruto found it taxing to move even slightly.

"Can we help Sakura?" asked Kakashi. "If she isn't too hurt, she may be able to help us with the others…" Yamato came up to Sakura.

"Yamato…?" whispered Sakura as her eyelids opened. "What happened? Where is Itachi?"

"He escaped…" said Yamato softly. "Can you help with the injured?" Sakura nodded as she got to her feet. Shino was still hurt, but surprisingly, his insect allies had shielded him from as much damage as it initially appeared he had taken. Lee, on the other hand, was hurt pretty badly. Sakura began using her healing ninjutsu. Yamato tended to Tenten. It appeared that she had not taken as much damage as they initially thought either. Naruto and Kakashi went to see Hinata. There was a deathly stillness about her.

"Hinata-chan…" whispered Naruto as he gently touched her face. Dried blood had caked on the sides of her mouth, and her eyes were stuck in a half-open position.

"It's too late Naruto…" whispered Kakashi.

"Shut up!!!" shouted Naruto as he pulled Hinata's still body close to him. Tears rolled down his cheeks. "She will be ok!!! Sakura-chan!!! Come here and help Hinata!!!" Sakura had managed to stabilize Lee's condition, and decided it would be alright to check on Hinata. As soon as she approached her head lowered.

"I'm sorry Naruto…" said Sakura.

"Don't tell me you're sorry!!" snapped Naruto. "Use your medical ninjutsu!"

"It won't do any good…" whispered Sakura as a tear welled up in her eye and trickled down her cheek.

"Yes it will!!" shouted Naruto. "There's no way that she could be…" His voice cracked, and tears continued to pour out his eyes and splash onto his orange tunic. The tears seemed to hover for a few moments on the bright fabric before sinking in and soaking the threads. The dust on the floor of the cavern darkened into tiny amounts of dark mud as a few stray tears splashed on the ground. The red light of the sun began to shine through the opening of the cave as it crept slowly above the horizon.

"Hinata!" whispered Naruto as he again picked her up gently and held her close. He had only begun to perceive the love that Hinata had had for him, and now that she was gone, in spite of the presence of his friends he felt alone. The memories of his early childhood came flooding back to him. He had been orphaned and cursed to bear a burden that he had done nothing to deserve.

"Naruto!" said Kakashi, trying to bring reason to his student. "This is not helping… It's time to let go…"

"No!" shouted Naruto. Slowly Tenten and Shino made their way to see their comrades.

"Naruto," whispered Tenten. "Don't make it worse…" Tears began to roll down her cheeks. Shino managed to keep his emotions in check, although he lowered his head as Naruto sobbed.

"There's no way she could have died like that!" shouted Naruto angrily. "She was from the Hyuuga clan!"

"Even the strongest of us cannot stand against Itachi's technique," said Yamato. Naruto whirled around to face him. There was something in his tone that made the blonde ninja uncomfortable.

"We cannot defeat an eye ability like that…" agreed Kakashi as he pulled his headband over his right eye to cover his own sharingan ability. Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you saying!?" shouted Naruto. "We almost defeated him! And you can do that eye ability too!"

"We are only delaying the inevitable," said Kakashi slowly. "Akatsuki cannot be stopped… Hinata is only the beginning of Konoha's casualties…"

"Shut up!" shouted Naruto as he got to his feet.

"Naruto!" said Tenten slowly as she tied her hair back in a pony tail. "Don't get angry, you know it's true." Sakura slowly approached Naruto and hugged him.

"It's ok Naruto," she whispered. "We aren't blaming you…" Her blue eyes seemed to shine as he looked into the face of his friend.

"In fact," said Shino. "We probably would've died if you hadn't delayed him…"

"What are you saying?" said Naruto softly. "I didn't delay him… that was Kakashi and Yamato…"

"It does not matter Naruto-kun!" said Lee as he raised his thumb cheerfully toward Naruto. "You are in the springtime of your youth!"

"That doesn't make any sense…" said Naruto softly as he looked at Lee's shiny green outfit. "How did you recover so quickly? You were burned by Itachi's fireball…"

"You're missing the point," said Sakura angrily. "Look at Hinata…" Tears again welled up in his eyes as he looked down at Hinata. Blood still oozed out of the corners of her mouth. He knelt beside her and held her close. As he pulled her head close to his he suddenly had the strangest sensation. He could not feel her head. He looked toward the mouth of the cave and saw a raven with red eyes peering intensely at him. The memory of Itachi's raven techniques came rushing back into Naruto's mind. He had not fled.

"I'm not missing the point!" shouted Naruto as he dropped Hinata and leapt toward the mouth of the cavern.

"_Moku Jōheki_!" shouted Yamato as a dome of wood formed around Naruto.

"You're losing control Naruto!" shouted Yamato. "Calm down!"

"Naruto!" screamed Sakura.

"Itachi is still out there!" shouted Naruto.

"_Rasengan_!" shouted Naruto as he shredded the wood barrier that bound him into splinters and rushed out. As soon as he broke free, Kakashi grabbed his arm and threw him back into the cavern.

"Naruto!" shouted Kakashi. "Get a hold of yourself!" Naruto skidded across the ground and found himself crawling with Shino's bugs. He frantically tried to brush them off, but more climbed onto him before he could free himself. Tenten twirled a long staff around and hit Naruto hard in the face, causing him to fly backward again.

"Why are you attacking me!" shouted Naruto. Sakura punched the ground causing the earth to divide underneath him. He fell several feet before painfully crashing against jagged rocks.

"What is happening?" whispered Naruto. "Why is every one suddenly attacking me?" Yamato sealed him in the pit he had fallen into with another wood prison technique. Nothing made sense to him. The only thing he was certain of was his need to get away from this cavern. He felt a slight tickle on the back of his neck. He suddenly realized that it was one of Shino's bugs. In a matter of seconds he was swimming in them. He struggled to ascend the rocky slopes of the pit that bound him, but the bugs continued to pull him down. Their tiny insect bodies pressed against him with unnatural strength. Through the wooden barrier above him, he could hear Shino laughing.

"You can never escape Naruto!" he said as he continued laughing.

'Shino never laughs…' thought Naruto to himself. The more he thought about it, the more he recalled other things that did not seem right. 'Tenten doesn't have a pony tail… Lee really was burned… Kakashi-sensei always covers his _left_ eye, not his right… Sakura doesn't have blue eyes… Hinata…'

"Hinata gave me something," whispered Naruto. She had somehow changed the way his chakra flowed to help him see something that he could not easily pick out before. He recalled how easily he had fallen for the trick Sakura who had savagely butchered Tsunade. That version of Sakura had looked exactly like the actual Sakura, but now, there were subtle differences. He looked up at the wood barrier holding him and squinted his eyes as if straining to see something beyond it. A subtle glow appeared in his eyes, and slowly an image appeared before him. The sensation of the crawling bugs dissipated, and the pain from crashing into the rocks from Sakura's attack seemed to diminish. Gradually, as he looked up, he saw a statue with many fingers and strange eyes. It was the sealing statue that Itachi had introduced them to at the beginning of their confrontation. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply carefully monitoring the way each perception came to him.

'Concentrate…' thought Naruto to himself. It was the same thing he had done when he was with Jiraiya learning the rasengan technique. He focused on the sealing statue, and slowly, his surroundings melted away. When he turned to his surroundings, he saw that almost no time had passed. He stood before Itachi. Hinata was breathing, and struggling to maintain consciousness.

As Hinata saw Naruto seem to regain his focus, she smiled. The glazed over look that appeared on his face had made her worry that her technique had not worked. He clenched his fists as he turned to face Itachi. Sweat beaded on Itachi's face as the red and black design in his sharingan-enhanced eyes shifted back to its previous state.

"Your technique will no longer work right on me!" whispered Naruto. "You have used too much chakra!" Itachi breathed heavily as he watched his opponent. Hinata's strategy had caused just enough change that he was unable to trick Naruto into a position of vulnerability that would allow Akatsuki to extract the Kyuubi. He had managed to escape his illusion.

"One thing is clear though," said Naruto as he slowly approached his opponent.

"What is that?" whispered Itachi as he circled defensively.

"You are low on chakra," said Naruto.

"Perhaps," whispered Itachi. In a quick motion he managed to grab Hinata, pull her in front of him like a shield, and hold a kunai to her throat.

"But I am not yet defeated…" he whispered. "What will you do… Naruto…?" Red chakra again began to leak out of Naruto's body. The stripes on his face thickened, and his nails grew long again. Hinata gasped as she saw the intense anger in her beloved ninja's eyes.

"I will _kill you_!!!" shouted Naruto.


	9. IX The Real World

_**IX The Real World**_

Naruto seemed to vanish as he used his speed to leap around his opponent and find an opening. He moved with such dizzying quickness that it appeared to Hinata they were surrounded by a ring of fire. She struggled against Itachi, but she had used almost all her energy persevering to this point. The sharp edge of Itachi's kunai sliced the soft flesh of her neck very slightly as Itachi whirled her around to use as a shield against Naruto. Hinata gasped as she saw how close her favorite ninja had come to hitting her before reading Itachi's defensive maneuver.

"You cannot stop me!" said Itachi as he leapt backward. "And every moment that passes allows me to recover my chakra…"

"Eat this!" shouted Naruto as he appeared behind Itachi and kicked his head. Itachi was able to follow his movements for the most part, but all of the genjutsu he had used in luring and attempting to trap the Kyuubi had left him running on gasps of air. Naruto's persistence and endurance not only impressed Itachi, but allowed Naruto to gain a small edge even though Itachi had not taken serious damage from this hit. He resisted the impulse to use more ninjutsu, knowing that his strategy was to stall Naruto efficiently and regain his spent energy. Naruto leapt again, but Itachi anticipated his maneuver and leapt into the air, pulling Hinata with him. Itachi smiled as he saw Naruto come close to landing a punch, but withdrawing his attack when he saw Hinata forcibly pulled up in between him and his foe as a shield.

"You are proving to be quite useful," said Itachi as he held her close. She squirmed uncomfortably, but did not have the strength to struggle against her captor. She barely had the strength to see glimpses of Naruto as he dashed back and forth hoping to find openings to attack.

'Be careful Naruto-kun,' thought Hinata as she ignored the pain of Itachi's kunai slicing her flesh. She marveled at how brightly Naruto's chakra glowed; it made the dark cavern seem like it was lit by hundreds of torches.

Itachi moved Hinata quickly to avoid Naruto's attacks. After several minutes of this processes, Itachi determined he could deliver a counter attack. He breathed in deeply and gathered chakra in his chest.

"_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" shouted Itachi. Fire leapt from his lips over Hinata's long dark hair and filled the space where Naruto was circling.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata in a hoarse exhausted voice. She trembled as she strained to see some sign that her beloved ninja had escaped this powerful attack. To Hinata's horror, Naruto lay on the ground below with a deathly stillness, and it appeared that he was on fire. Slowly, the fire seemed to move, and the shape of a tail appeared as Naruto stirred.

"Amazing how that chakra protects him…" whispered Itachi as he again pulled Hinata in front of him before Naruto could attack him.

"Stop using Hinata as a shield you coward!" shouted Naruto as he leapt back.

"Why would I want to do that?" chided Itachi as he held Hinata tighter. She winced at the touch of Itachi's arm on her waist, but could do little to prevent it. She was still so exhausted. She felt so useless as she was swung back and forth, unable to act or resist. Her situation brought back a flood of childhood memories. There had been so many times when her father had criticized her because she was so slow to learn. It seemed to her that no matter how hard or how much she tried to accomplish something, she failed. She had often become a burden to her teammates, and in spite of Kurenai-sensei's encouragement, she had struggled with confidence on every mission. It probably had not helped that Kiba only thought about himself and Akamaru, and that Shino only thought about missions. Neither of them acknowledged her at all, except to point out that she passed out a lot in front of Naruto. She knew that they had been under the influence of extremely powerful genjutsu at the hands of Itachi, and she silently wondered to herself whether Naruto's actions when they had enjoyed a meal together had been a part of this illusion. When he had looked into her eyes and held her close, had he known that it was Hinata, or was that also genjutsu? So many traps had been laid for them for her to dismiss her doubts.

'The only thing I can count on is me being a burden,' thought Hinata as a tear rolled down her cheek. So many times she had wished that she could show Naruto that she was better than she seemed. She wanted to show him that she was more than a burden, and that she could give him something more than a red face or a fainting spell when he needed her.

'He has never needed me!' thought Hinata sadly as Itachi again yanked her to prevent Naruto from striking him. The Akatsuki warriors speed seemed to be increasing as he efficiently stalled Naruto from landing attacks. It would not be long before his powerful genjutsu could again trap her beloved shinobi.

"I am too fast for you!" said Itachi. "You will not be able to strike me without first killing your own comrade!" Naruto's speed had increased, but his success had not. Itachi watched as he tried harder and harder to sneak around and land other attacks, but he had failed each time after landing his initial kick.

"Are you too fast for this?" shouted Naruto.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" shouted Naruto. Dozens of shadow clones began circling Itachi as he gripped Hinata's waist.

'Naruto-kun!' thought Hinata. She was always impressed with his determination. No matter how far behind he had seemed he never stopped looking for a way to win. He seemed the exact opposite of Hinata. He was so confident in his abilities, even when they were lacking. He believed he could become the strongest ninja, and that he could protect Konoha from any enemy. Though many found Naruto's stubbornness an undesirable quality, his belief that he could change his destiny was so powerful that it had changed the hearts of many other stubborn shinobi. Hinata recalled the stark contrast in Neji's attitude toward her before and after his fight with Naruto. She also recalled how the sand ninja had changed after Naruto's courage and determination had changed the heart of their Kazekage, Gaara. Though she doubted his determination would change the heart of Itachi, she became hopeful that it could save her.

"_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" shouted Itachi again. As the room filled with fire again, the distinct sound of shadow clones bursting into small puffs of air met Hinata's ears.

"Not enough!" said Itachi with satisfaction. His normal stoicism was laced with a hint of pleasure. He had been in a difficult situation, but he was climbing his way out. Each moment that passed allowed him to efficiently regain spent chakra. Naruto's seemingly unending supply of determination would not matter if he was unable to defeat Itachi soon.

"Gotcha!" shouted Naruto as he sprung from behind Itachi hoping to land another kick. In an amazing acrobatic maneuver, Itachi pulled his body down and used Hinata as a club, smashing her head against Naruto's body and throwing him just high of his target.

"What?" shouted Naruto as he flew across the cavern. He had not believed that Itachi would be able to avoid his attack.

"Naruto-kun!" whispered Hinata. "Don't give up!" To her surprise Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke.

"A shadow clone!" said Itachi as he scanned the area for the real Naruto. He was too slow to deflect Naruto's attack with Hinata. Itachi managed to pull himself to a position where he would take the least amount of impact as Naruto's fist collided with his head. Itachi also made sure that his hostage could not be rescued. Naruto grumbled in disappointment as he saw how well Itachi had been able to defend such a well planned attack.

"You're still the number one surprising ninja!" whispered Hinata as she looked at Naruto. She felt dizzy as she continued to be used as a shield, preventing Naruto from actually striking. She decided that it was better to endure this than to have Naruto actually hit her. Though he was sometimes clumsy and inefficient, when he landed his attacks, they were typically quite powerful.

"This is bad," whispered Naruto as he clenched his fists. 'I don't want to hurt Hinata,' he thought to himself. 'But how will I get to him without hurting her?'

"You can't win," said Itachi softly. He decided that though his chakra had not yet recovered to the point he wanted to abandon his hostage, he was prepared to retaliate to some degree. He pulled his kunai across Hinata's arm. It sliced through her coat and into her skin. Hinata winced at the pain as blood began oozing out of the fresh wound.

"Stop it Itachi!" shouted Naruto.

"Or what will you do?" retorted Itachi. "Kill her yourself? Because even when I have used my chakra you still cannot manage to defeat me!"

"I can't use the rasengan without hurting Hinata…" whispered Naruto. He clenched his teeth in anger. Itachi seemed to smile slightly as he pressed his blade into Hinata's other arm. Blood gushed out onto her dark sleeve. She bit her lip to deal with the sharp pain shooting through her already exhausted limb. Naruto leapt to try and stop him. Itachi laughed as he stuck his blade into Hinata's throat, causing her blood to spill all over her Akatsuki robes.

"Hinata!!!" shouted Naruto. He leapt toward Itachi only to find him melt away into nothingness.

"Hinata wasn't wearing Akatsuki robes…" said Naruto softly. Itachi kicked Naruto in the back of the head and sent him skidding several yards across the ground.

"Another genjutsu already?" whispered Naruto. "I have to be careful…" He was relieved to see that Hinata, while still an exhausted hostage in Itachi's grasp, did not have gaping stab wounds in her arm and throat. He did notice that the first slice was genuine, and Hinata's coat was slowly leaking blood.

"You told me that you would show me what happens when leaves change," whispered Itachi to Hinata. "I am not impressed."

"He will beat you!" said Hinata. It was as if she had unlocked a hidden reserve of energy herself as she turned and spoke to her captor.

"Not while I have you!" whispered Itachi. "He has become soft when it comes to his heart... Weak as you may be, your presence negates the power of the Kyuubi…" Hinata's eyes grew wide as she turned and looked at Naruto. She realized that there was some truth in Itachi's words. He had been leaking red chakra, and it had appeared that he would shred Itachi using the nine-tails strength, but now that energy seemed diminished. The red glow had not completely ceased, but his nails were no longer sharp, and he had not been running on all fours as he tried to catch Itachi off guard.

"Why would he do that?" whispered Hinata. Naruto got to his feet and looked at Hinata. The deep blue color in his eyes was intoxicating. She longed to be close to her beloved blonde ninja. Suddenly her heart skipped a beat.

"The ramen shop wasn't all genjutsu, was it?" asked Hinata. Itachi laughed.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe isn't it?" he said. "I was just trying to make him comfortable with my genjutsu; I didn't actually think he would develop feelings for some one like you… You were the perfect addition to my trap, and you have been an excellent defense against the demon within him…" Hinata clenched her fists. She ignored Itachi's rudeness and looked back into Naruto's eyes. She perceived a longing and determination in his face that she had refused to see before because of her self doubt. Itachi had inadvertently helped her see through her own lack of confidence.

"He loves me…" whispered Hinata in amazement.

"And I thought _he_ was an oblivious idiot…" muttered Itachi.

"I _will _show you what happens when leaves change…" whispered Hinata. Itachi raised an eye.

"Make as many clones as you can Naruto-kun…" shouted Hinata. "And don't worry about me… I'll be ok!"

"Hinata-chan…" whispered Naruto. "You're ok…" There was a clear sign of relief in his voice. Hinata smiled for a moment before returning back to the matter at hand.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata. "As many as you can! And attack Itachi!" Naruto clenched his fists and then formed the necessary seal.

"_Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" shouted Naruto. The cavern was filled with thousands of clones. A sea of orange and black clad leaf ninja began cracking their knuckles and clenching their teeth.

"Ok every one!" shouted Naruto. "Let's save Hinata!!" Itachi's eyes grew wide as he contemplated the sheer number of shadow clones that surrounded them. It didn't take long before he decided to employ a counter attack.

"_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" shouted Itachi. It was not an original technique, but it was effective. Hundreds of clones burst into small puffs of air. Itachi continued blowing a huge amount of flame-enhanced chakra into the swarm of attacking clones, and although hundreds of clones were destroyed, it was clear that Itachi would run out of breath before he would be able to destroy all of the clones. Hinata smiled as she felt the stiff fabric of Naruto's tunic rub against her as they surged toward Itachi. Though he tried to dodge and parry, a few managed to land attacks against Itachi. For a brief instant, he released his hold on Hinata to counter attack the hundreds of clones attempting to attack him. He smiled as he regained his grip on Hinata, preventing her from escaping. He continued to kick clones left and right causing thick clouds of dissipating shadow clones. After several minutes of continued bombardment, the attacks of the shadow clones finally stopped. There were only a few clones left on the perimeter that had been assigned to prevent Itachi from fleeing, and they decided to retreat and regroup next to Naruto.

"Even with the unnatural amount of stamina that you possess, you cannot keep up an attack style like that!" said Itachi triumphantly. "At least not without destroying your beloved Hinata!" The look on Hinata's face filled Naruto with anger, but as hard as he clenched his teeth, he admitted within himself that Itachi was not wrong in his assessment.

"Hey!" said one of Naruto's clones as he approached the genuine Naruto. "I have an idea…" The clones began whispering together in a huddle.

Itachi was glad to get a moment to breath. He had lost a large amount of chakra with his previous attack, although he knew it could not be helped. He gripped Hinata tighter as he carefully watched the clones' movements. Naruto had rarely shown much depth in his strategies, and though the Akatsuki illusionist felt confident in his own skills, he wondered what the orange and black clad ninja could possibly be discussing with himself.

"It's over!" shouted Naruto spontaneously as he leapt from the midst of his clones and pointed at Itachi triumphantly.

"_Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" shouted Naruto again. The room again filled with shadow clones, that all seemed to have an unnerving smirk on their faces. Itachi could not see anything different about these clones even with his powerful sharingan technique activated. Again the swarm of Naruto clones rushed to attack Itachi. The Akatsuki master determined that he did not need a sustained great fireball technique this time, but he did use it occasionally to help drive heavy concentrations of shadow clones back. He was surprised to see the clones stop attacking, but it seemed that they were still surrounding him as if creating a huge shadow clone prison.

"What is he up to…?" whispered Itachi as he held Hinata closer. From behind the great sphere of shadow clones he saw the answer to his question punching through a group of tightly bunched clones wielding a huge glowing spiral sphere of energy.

Itachi instantly threw Hinata in front of him as the impending attack swiftly approached. He knew that his hostage strategy would be perfect for just this occasion.

'There are two possibilities,' Itachi had thought to himself when he first picked Hinata up. 'Either his love for her will prevent her from attacking, in which case I am saved; or he will for whatever reason attack anyway, and his predictable Leaf conscience would bind him down with guilt, and allow him to fall easy prey to even weak genjutsu techniques. If he doesn't attack me quickly enough, I will regain enough chakra to use strong genjutsu techniques against him. In either possibility, I will be able to capture that elusive Kyuubi.'

Itachi looked at Naruto's eyes as he and a clone carried the massive energy attack every closer. There was no longer any hesitation in his face, but the grief and worry that had characterized his expression in previous attacks seemed to be also mysteriously absent. He looked all around to see if this attack might be a decoy for something else, but all he found was the arrogant smirk of Naruto's clones watching him from a distance. Itachi whirled around, preparing to ensure that Hinata would take the brunt of this attack.

"Are you prepared to kill the one you love!?" shouted Itachi as the swirling ball came near.

"_Oodama Rasengan_!" shouted Naruto as his attack flew into Hinata's already-injured body. The attack momentarily slowed, and Itachi seized the opportunity to throw himself out of the path of this vicious attack. Itachi tasted fear as he saw how quickly the attack swallowed and disintegrated Hinata. Naruto had slowed not because of Hinata's body being used as a shield, but to change direction to follow Itachi. The thousand of clones that had formed the spherical prison now broke their formation and swarmed around Itachi.

"Hold him down!" shouted the clones as they began to reach Itachi. The strategy became apparent. He had been willing to sacrifice Hinata in exchange for a victory over him. Itachi was not prepared to surrender just yet.

"_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" shouted Itachi. The massive ball of flame managed to destroy hundreds of swarming clones, but to Itachi's horror, the glowing giant spiral ball that Naruto held above his head as he dove toward Itachi shielded him from the fire. He had no other choice but to use all of his remaining chakra in hopes of surviving. He was glad he had not used too much with the flame attack as the black and red designs on his eyes again shifted.

"_Mangekyo Sharingan_!" shouted Itachi. He smiled as he managed to capture Naruto in his dimension a second time. In attacking Naruto's mind, he would be able to stop the oodama rasengan at its source. He began creating a world for Naruto where Hinata appeared and attacked him. As he became wrapped up in the fictional world that Itachi had forced upon him, the massive swirling globe that Naruto had planned on destroying Itachi with dissipated. His confidence increased as he manipulated Naruto into tears.

"Wait," said Naruto slowly. "Hinata doesn't have blonde hair!" Itachi raised his eyebrow in confusion. He had not manipulated this discrepancy. Suddenly he realized that this must be another effect of Hinata manipulating Naruto's chakra flow.

"Surprised?" whispered Hinata from behind Itachi.

"How the…" started Itachi as he spun around and saw Hinata standing in a fighting stance. Her coat was still sliced, and blood oozed from her arm and neck. Though she was clearly exhausted, she had somehow managed to survive Naruto's attack.

"_Jyuuken: __eight trigrams sixty-four palms_!" shouted Hinata before he could react. His tenketsus were not unnaturally swimming around in her vision this time, and as the number of strikes repeatedly doubled Itachi could do nothing to resist. Each hit further blocked the flow of Itachi's chakra.

Naruto, now free from Itachi's illusion watched in amazement as Hinata struck Itachi. After a few more moments, he fell to the floor with a thud. He could no longer even regain chakra without waiting until his chakra circulatory system had recovered from the damage inflicted upon it by Hinata. She also fell to the ground, exhausted from the energy it took to attack her opponent.

"You may have stopped my chakra," said Itachi as he pulled out a kunai and crawled toward her. "But I will stop your heart!" Before he could reach her though, he felt a hand grab his ankle. It was Naruto. He picked Itachi up and slammed his face into the hard cave floor, and then threw him several yards away to prevent him from coming close to Hinata again.

"Itachi," said Naruto softly. "Sasuke was always the one who wanted to kill you…" Itachi groaned as he turned to face his opponent. Naruto continued.

"But I can never forgive you for how you used Hinata," said Naruto softly. He lifted his palm and began focusing a tremendous amount of chakra. Hinata looked up at Naruto, and a tear of gratitude slipped from her eye and rolled down her cheek.

"_Oodama Rasengan_!" shouted Naruto as he pressed his attack into his opponent. He screamed in pain as his torso was hewn apart. Blood sprayed across the floor of the cavern as Naruto's attack bored a huge hole into the ground. Itachi's separated parts fell a great distance into the darkness.

"Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata. Her hero picked her up off the ground.

"Hinata-chan…" said Naruto slowly as he looked into her large white eyes. "Itachi showed me many things, and I didn't always know what was real…" He cleared his throat as he continued.

"But you told me that you really liked me…" said Naruto. "Was that true?" Hinata used her remaining strength and pressed her lips gently against his. His eyes grew wide with surprise, but only for a moment. He quickly closed his eyes gently pressed his lips against hers. Though they were both dirty, tired, and injured, there was no illusion or enemy that could possibly interrupt their moment together. Hinata finally pulled back and opened her eyes as she looked at her handsome hero.

"I love you… Naruto-kun…" she said with a smile. Naruto smiled as he carried her to the mouth of the cavern to watch the rising sun. They knew that they needed to tend to Lee, Tenten, Sakura, and Shino, but they felt after everything that had happened that they deserved at least a minute more in their world before returning to the real world.

**A/N**: Thank you again for your reviews. I hope you have enjoyed the story thus far. I know there are some things that need further explanation, but rest assured that this is not the last chapter. I will be sure to address Itachi's fate, getting Shino, Lee, Tenten, and Sakura back to Konoha, and how Hinata escaped the Oodama Rasengan. Stay tuned for the epilogue.


	10. X Loose Ends

_**X Loose Ends**_

The morning sunlight shined brightly as Naruto's clones carried his unconscious comrades while he carried Hinata in his own arms. Though she had fallen asleep from the fatigue of the battle with Itachi, she still had her arm around Naruto. The warmth of her body put an extra spring in Naruto's step. The humidity made the cool air seem even cooler as they leapt from branch to branch toward their hidden village. The shadows seemed to dance as they picked up speed. Sakura had taken the least damage, and managed to regain consciousness first.

"Naruto…?" said Sakura slowly as she lifted her head. She immediately squinted to avoid the discomfort of the cold moist air on her eyes.

"Sakura-chan," said one of Naruto's clones cheerfully.

"What happened?" she asked. The clone that carried her smiled.

"Hinata and I were able to defeat Itachi!" he said as he continued leaping from branch to branch.

"So he's really gone?" asked Sakura. She was unable to mask the hint of surprise in her voice, but fortunately, Naruto did not detect it.

"Yeah!" said Naruto's clone cheerfully. "So now we can definitely get Sasuke back!" Sakura smiled. The memory of Naruto bandaged up renewing his promise to persuade Sasuke to come back had touched her heart. He had always been a loyal friend, and though she had never felt romantically attached to Naruto, she valued their association. His unwavering determination even in the face of great peril had been a source of mental strength and courage for Sakura. Even if Sasuke did not return, it made her happy that Naruto might be able to fulfill the promise he had made when Sasuke had left Konoha.

"I hope so," she said softly with a smiled. Her pink hair bounced with each leap. She glanced over at Tenten. She had been beaten pretty severely by Itachi, but it appeared her condition had stabilized. Lee and Shino seemed to be hurt a lot more, and it was difficult to tell if they were breathing.

"We need to hurry Naruto," said Sakura. "Lee and Shino will need to see Lady Tsunade." Her voice was laced with urgency, and it some how gave Naruto the strength to increase his speed. The warmth of the sun began to make every one more comfortable, and after a few minutes, Tenten slowly opened her eyes.

"Wh… where are we?" stammered Tenten. "Naruto!" she shouted realizing that she was being held by the blonde ninja. As she looked around, she quickly saw that they were all being held by clones of Naruto.

"We're going back to Konoha," said Sakura who was relieved that Tenten had recovered. "How are you feeling?" Tenten rubbed her head as she became more aware of the throbbing pain that lingered from Itachi's beating.

"I've been better…" said Tenten softly. "How are Lee, Shino, and Hinata?"

"They will be ok when we get them to Granny Tsunade," said Sakura with a reassuring smile. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the clouds seemed to scatter and reveal a bright blue sky emerging from behind the shadows. The increased visibility helped them spot their destination above the tree tops. Hovering on the horizon, they could see the mountains into which the Hokage's images had been hewn. It brought a smile to Sakura's face to see how quickly they were moving.

It was not long before Naruto and his clones marched into the gates of Konoha. They quickly rushed through the gates and toward the hospital. Tsunade met them as they drew near.

"Is every one ok?" asked Tsunade.

"Lee and Shino need help immediately," replied Sakura. "Every one else will be ok with rest." Ino directed Naruto's clones to carry both Lee and Shino to receive treatment.

"What happened?" asked Tsunade. She wore a look of concern. Naruto gently laid Hinata down and faced the Hokage.

"Itachi tried to capture me," he said. "He used a lot of genjutsu to lure me to a strange cavern where I saw a weird statue that he called the sealing statue." Tsunade raised an eyebrow as she continued to listen to his report.

"He kept tricking us all with genjutsu, but Hinata managed to save us…" said Naruto. Sakura looked at the slumbering Hyuuga.

'Hinata?' she thought to herself. 'I thought it was Naruto that defeated him…' Tenten smiled as she looked at the peaceful expression on Hinata's face as she slept.

"She changed my chakra flow to prevent Itachi's techniques from having a perfect hold on me," explained Naruto. "He managed to take her hostage, but she came up with an amazing idea to defeat him."

"What was her strategy?" asked Tsunade. She was impressed both because Naruto was not taking all the credit for the victory, and because it was Hinata that had come up with strategies to defeat the powerful sharingan-user.

"I created thousands of shadow clones and attacked Itachi," explained Naruto. "That made it difficult for him to focus on any one thing. Eventually Itachi had to briefly release his hold on her to defend himself. She managed to create a shadow clone of herself and then transform herself to look like me! I was pretty surprised to see one of my clones come up to me and say that they were Hinata…"

"Impressive!" said Tsunade.

"Yeah," replied Naruto. "And it left Itachi thinking he could still defend himself with a hostage… That's when I used my oodama rasengan!"

"But he was a member of Akatsuki," said Tsunade. "And one that bested the entire Uchiha clan…"

"You're right," said Naruto. "He wasn't finished with that move, but before he realized what all was going on, Hinata pulled of her gentle fist technique that closed his tenketsus!"

"Hinata-san!" whispered Tenten. She had always been impressed with Neji's strength as he had used this powerful technique, but had not thought Hinata a strong enough shinobi to execute this jutsu. Tsunade smiled as she glanced down at Hinata.

"That's when I used another oodama rasengan to finish him!" said Naruto triumphantly.

"We really weren't much help," said Sakura sadly. "I easily fell for his genjutsu…"

"Sakura-chan," whispered Hinata as she regained consciousness.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you more," said Sakura. Hinata smiled.

"Sakura," she said again. "I could not have done what I did without you there to help me. We all fell for his genjutsu. It was very powerful. I am just happy that we were able to stop him!" Tsunade lowered her head.

"We don't know that we have…" said Tsunade.

"What?" shouted Naruto. "There's no way he got away from my technique. I saw him die!"

"There's something you should know Naruto," said Tsunade softly. "While you were gone, Itachi's partner attacked Konoha."

"So what?" said Naruto. He made no effort to mask the anger in his voice.

"It was by no means an easy fight," said Tsunade. "But with every one working together, we managed to prevent him from killing more villagers."

"That has nothing to do with Itachi!" shouted Naruto. Sakura and Tenten also bore looks of confusion.

"You found something more after we left?" asked Tenten curiously.

"After you left, I went to make sure we had finished Kisame off," said Tsunade. "When I got to the place he had landed, I found something I did not expect…" Tsunade went into a back room in the hospital and returned pushing a bed into the main room. It was not difficult for them to identify the significance of the red cloud pattern on the black robe that draped over the body on the cart. Naruto raised an eyebrow as he approached the shrouded figure. Tsunade pulled the cloak so that the face of the corpse became visible.

"He looks nothing like Kisame!" shouted Tenten. "It's just like when Gai-sensei defeated him…"

"I suspect that they use these individuals as human sacrifices," said Tsunade. "And grant them large portions of their own chakra."

"What does this mean?" asked Naruto. His eyes were wide as he looked at the mangled body of some individual that had briefly taken on the characteristics of an Akatsuki warrior.

"It means that we must consider the possibility that Itachi is also still alive," said Tsunade softly.

"But he used his mangekyo sharingan!" said Naruto. "He couldn't do that when they used this replacement technique before…"

"It is possible that he is dead," said Tsunade. "But it's also possible that he may have found a way to use his eye jutsu in combination with this sacrifice jutsu…" Naruto looked back down at the broken corpse on the table before them. It made him shudder. After several moments, Tsunade replaced the sheet that had covered this victim's face and pushed the cart out of sight.

Several hours passed before they received word concerning Shino and Lee. It appeared that they would both recover completely, in spite of the injuries they had sustained. Sakura was especially relieved, having been the one to knock Shino out. After she had recovered, she made a special effort to help him.

Tenten stayed with Lee. In spite of his eccentricities, she was grateful that Lee was on her team. It made her happy to see him regain consciousness and immediately ask for help getting out of bed so he could train.

"Some things never change," she whispered with a smile. She turned out the window to see Naruto and Hinata holding hands and heading towards Naruto's favorite ramen shop.

"But some things clearly do," she added.

Hinata smiled as she felt the warmth of Naruto's hand. This time, there was no illusion or trick as they approached the ramen shop. Naruto helped Hinata onto the seat next to where he intended to sit. Teuchi's smiling face greeted the two shinobi as he took their orders and prepared the dishes that they had requested. Hinata turned her head back and looked around.

"What are you looking for Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto as he looked back with her.

"Ravens," said Hinata softly. "I guess that's kind of dumb, huh?"

"I don't think so," replied Naruto with a smile. "I still kind of wonder whether this in an illusion…" He reached his hand out and ran his fingers through Hinata's dark hair. Her cheeks gained a small amount of color as she turned and gazed into Naruto's deep blue eyes.

"Naruto-kun," whispered Hinata as she gently pulled him closer. "Do you think Itachi will be back?" Naruto shrugged.

"I'm not sure," he said softly. "I guess that even if he doesn't come after me again, I still have to find a way to get Sasuke back, and Akatsuki will still want to get me…"

"They won't be able to defeat an amazing ninja like you, Naruto-kun," replied Hinata with a soft smile. Naruto pulled her closer.

"Yeah, especially if Hyuuga Hinata is by my side," he whispered. He gently pressed his lips against hers. Hinata wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gently touched his head as she returned the kiss. A tear escaped her eye as she hugged her favorite blonde ninja. It felt so refreshing to be with Naruto, and to have him acknowledge her.

"I love you," whispered Hinata. "Naruto-kun…" He gently brushed the tear off her soft cheek and kissed her forehead.

"And I love you," replied Naruto with a wide smile.

"Naruto," said Teuchi softly. Naruto turned to see that their ramen orders were ready. He smiled widely and thanked his favorite chef.

"Itadakimasu!" shouted Naruto as he began stirring his meal with his chop sticks. Steam rose from the thick noodles, and carried with it the savory odor of fresh pork.

"Itadakimasu," whispered Hinata as she leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder, and stirred her own meal. Her mind fell back to their adventure. She thought back to Itachi's words about what happens when leaves change. Many things had changed around them. There had been many villagers who had been killed by the attacks on Konoha, and Akatsuki had nearly succeeded in capturing the Kyuubi. They had been caught in a series of carefully orchestrated traps, and had only barely managed to escape with their lives against what had appeared to be replicas of their actual enemies. As she thought about their situation, she realized that these things were actually not that unusual. Shinobi always faced danger, and they would always need to improve their techniques and abilities to keep up. The real change that had happened was when Naruto and Hinata had opened their eyes to new possibilities. Hinata had been full of self-doubt, but through her love for Naruto she had discovered a strength that she could never have used before. Naruto had finally managed to open his eyes and find the love that Hinata had carried for years.

"What do you think happens when leaves change?" said Hinata softly. Naruto swallowed a large piece of pork and smiled.

"I don't know," said Naruto. "But isn't this ramen the best?" She laughed softly and turned to her meal. She was grateful that some things would never change.

**The End**


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